Repowered is a social enterprise that collects and refurbishes donated electronics, redistributing devices to individuals and organisations that lack access to technology. Its workforce includes paid staff and a community of volunteers who work alongside them in refurbishment centres and community outreach programmes. Like many social enterprises, Repowered had strong operational values but limited administrative infrastructure, and its HR processes reflected that gap.
New employee setup at Repowered was a slow, manual process. Paper forms were printed and completed by hand, filed in physical folders, and referenced manually when HR information was needed. The organisation had no centralised system for tracking leave, no digital repository for employment contracts, and no structured process for performance conversations. Staff received inconsistent experiences depending on how organised their immediate manager was, rather than because the organisation had a clear standard.
The decision to implement BambooHR was partly driven by a desire to present the organisation more professionally to employees who were being asked to commit their skills and time to the mission. A social enterprise competing for talent with commercial employers needed to offer a credible, modern HR experience. BambooHR's reputation for ease of use and affordability made it an accessible choice.
The implementation focused first on eliminating paper from HR workflows. Employment contracts were moved to electronic format and signed digitally through BambooHR. Leave requests were submitted and approved through the system. New employee setup, which had previously taken a week of back-and-forth between the new hire and HR, was condensed into a two-day digital process.
The improvement in professionalism was noted immediately by new starters, who remarked favourably on the structured welcome experience and the ease with which they could access their own HR information through the self-service portal. For an organisation built around the idea of supporting individuals through technology, having a modern, technology-enabled HR process was a natural extension of its values.
Performance conversations became more consistent and more frequent. Managers who had previously avoided the discomfort of unstructured review conversations found the guided prompts and structured templates within BambooHR's performance management module helpful in facilitating better discussions. The organisation's ability to retain staff improved as employees felt more supported in their development.
