How Firstbird helped B-A-D to fill 20% of all hard-to-fill roles within the first six months, successfully engaging the passive workforce

We live health…
..this is the motto at B-A-D, the occupational health and safety technology group. Health is the driving force, supported by more than 4,500 employees in six countries, who have been providing safe working conditions for companies for over 40 years. For healthy recruiting and growth, the company chose Firstbird.

Like many companies in the healthcare management sector, B-A-D has challenging recruiting requirements. The company grows annually by several hundred employees in different professions. B-A-D is hiring for instance, doctors, technicians,engineers and health experts. These professions are usually in high demand and very difficult to fill. In addition, B-A-D is a decentralized organization with over 200 locations in Germany alone. Since most recruiting is done remotely, they needed a new recruiting channel that could help them to win over the passive workforce and hire the most reliable employees.

Approach

B-A-D expanded its recruiting channels with Firstbird, the digital employee referral program. The company thus involved the entire workforce in the recruiting process, using its network and successfully reached passive candidates. In the lead up to the go-live, the recruiting department bought the marketing, corporate communications, privacy, legal, purchasing, works council and management divisions on board for this idea and prepared the program’s internal launch with their Firstbird Customer Engagement Managers.

Internal communication was crucial for the successful launch. With a communication mix of personal conversations, intranet postings, regular email campaigns and advertisements in the staff magazine, around 800 employees were motivated to participate, and this number continues to rise.

In addition, B-A-D decided on a reward strategy consisting of three themed worlds (health, office and leisure) in order to offer its own employees a broad range of rewards. That way, there’s a reward for each Talent Scout involved in the recruitment process.

“With Firstbird we reward the small successes. With the introduction of the rewards, our
colleagues rate referrals very positively. In addition, and thanks to Firstbird and the
employee network, we’ve lowered our hiring costs.”

— Heinrich Torsten —
Personnel Marketing Consultant, B-A-D HQ, Bonn

Results

The implementation of Firstbird digital employee referral program entailed great benefits to the B-A-D recruitment process. Thanks to the Firstbird gamification approach that encouraged employees to register as Talent Scouts, the company was able to reach out to the passive employment market and hire 20% of hard-to-fill roles via employee referrals. Regular internal competitions and promotions, such as winning a team Christmas dinner, boost the referral rate in the long run. The goal is to increase this rate to at least 25% and to expand referrals as the most successful recruiting channel in the long term.
Moreover, all the new employees hired via Firstbird were a great cultural fit for the company.

“Firstbird has become an important part of our recruiting mix. The program is easy to use and our employees feel valued to help shape the recruiting process. The introduction of the digital program allows us more transparency as well for our workforce.”

— Timo Hannan —
Team Leader Personnel Marketing, B-A-D HQ, Bonn

If you want to obtain similar results  with your employee referral program, we can guide you through. Book a demo with us to get a free consultation on the best solution for your company.