bonprix focuses on agile recruiting and supports social projects with its digital employee referral programme ‘talentry@bonprix’.

More and more employers are competing for the same talent, as there are more vacancies than available applicants in almost all sectors. The internationally successful fashion company bonprix, which currently employs around 1,200 people at its Hamburg location, is also constantly on the lookout for qualified applicants who not only have the necessary technical expertise, but also fit in with the corporate culture. That is why ‘talentry@bonprix’ was introduced, a digital referral programme that allows every employee to become a recruiter and recommend specific jobs. What makes it special is that if the referral is successful, the recruiter receives a donation voucher that they can redeem via their own landing page to support a social project.

bonprix currently has more than 70 vacancies on its careers page, most of which are in the IT sector. When searching for suitable candidates, the fashion retailer no longer relies solely on experts from the HR department, but benefits from the agile mindset within the company. This means that all employees are empowered to take an active role and responsibility in recruiting. ‘Our colleagues in the specialist departments are very well connected both inside and outside the company and know best where to find potential applicants and what they should bring to the table,’ says André Linke, Head of Support, Recruiting & Employer Branding at bonprix. ‘That's why we offer everyone the opportunity to easily share open jobs via social networks or email with talentry@bonprix, thereby supporting individual motivation to find the best-suited new employees.’

If successful, the referral of each position, whether a working student or management position, is rewarded with a donation voucher worth £500. This can then be redeemed on a landing page set up with betterplace.org for one of five projects with which bonprix has a special connection – such as the Sternenbrücke children's hospice or Brustkrebs Deutschland e.V. (Breast Cancer Germany). The collaboration is also special for betterplace.org, as although there are an increasing number of companies that are socially engaged, they have generally relied on the classic ‘bounty’ system when using employee referral programmes.

Since the launch of talentry@bonprix in August, many job advertisements have already been shared and recommended candidates invited. After the start-up phase, the portfolio of supported projects is to be gradually expanded based on employee suggestions.