Every idea counts

More than 2,000 suggestions are submitted each year to Germany’s Bessermachen@Bertelsmann – and many of these suggestions are implemented, giving employees an active role in shaping the company.

The clothing wringer at the printing plant

What an idea! One Mr. Varnholt, working in distribution at the Gütersloh printing plant of what was then called Mohn & Co., came up with a novel solution to the problem of how to quickly fold around 30,000 copies of "Lesering Illustrierte" (Illustrated Reading Circle) - he brought a clothing wringer to work from home. It worked fine and Mr. Varnholt was richer by a considerable amount of money. The year was 1959 – Bertelsmann’s in-house suggestions scheme had just officially been inaugurated, giving the staff a share in the amount saved by their improvement suggestions. Half a century later, in 2009, Bertelsmann celebrates the 50th anniversary of its in-house suggestions scheme

Playing a part in processes

To this day, individuals contribute to the success of the entire company by making suggestions for improving their working environments. The creativity of our employees helps to continually improve quality and efficiency, as well as to come up with new business ideas and concepts for the company. Employees get a bonus worth 25 percent of the savings achieved by their suggestions in the first year after the improvement is introduced. So creative ideas pay off - for employees as well as for the company.

The success of the in-house suggestions scheme is also well known outside of Germany. For example, "The Big Think" scheme was introduced at Arvato Government Services in Britain.