Städtisches Klinikum Braunschweig gGmbH
cyclos design GmbH
Art Direction · Concept & Digital Experience
Red Dot Award
Annual Multimedia Award
Germany's healthcare system is facing a severe talent shortage. Hospitals compete for nurses and medical professionals in an increasingly crowded market, often relying on expensive head hunters simply to keep essential positions filled.
We looked at that math and asked a different question: instead of paying strangers to find people who don't know the hospital, why not pay the people who already do?
German hospitals face a hiring problem. Recruiting agencies charge up to 35% of a candidate’s first-year salary—because vacancies cost even more. So we asked: why pay headhunters when the best recruiters are already inside the hospital?
So who are the best recruiter?, it's the nurse who already knows which colleague would thrive on her ward, or the surgeon who trained a resident worth keeping. Every employee already already comes with a network of people they'd vouch for.
The campaign DU+ (YOU+) turned employees into a recruiting channel: recommend someone you trust, and if they’re hired, you get a bonus. No agency fees. No stranger's CV landing cold in HR's inbox. Just colleagues bringing in the people they’d want working beside them.
The campaign line carried that idea directly:
"We're here with each other, and for each other. You + me. We are skbs."
As part of the DU+ campaign, we created two connected portals for skbs: one for applicants and another for employees recommending new talent.
The career portal was designed to do more than list vacancies. It brings the employer brand to life through a clear promise: Here, people support one another. This idea of connection shapes the entire candidate experience from the very first click.
In 2020, skbs hired 193 new employees. By 2024, that number had climbed to 582. Almost triple.
That growth followed the launch of the new corporate identity in 2021 and 2022, and further campaigns built on it, DU+ among them.
Referrals and a stronger employer brand did what headhunters used to.
