Generation B

Generation B was established in 2017 as a grassroots movement within Bühler, by 6 delegates after attending the 2016 Summit in Ottawa. It was founded with the purpose of bringing employees together to create the company that they, and other colleagues, want to work for.

Generation B wants Bühler to be an attractive and diverse workplace, with a culture of trust, and engaged and motivated employees. The movement enables colleagues to take ownership of global problems (such as climate change), through initiatives established by Generation B Ambassadors to create long-term change. Ultimately, this movement aims to shape the future of Bühler.

Throughout 2020, Generation B reached over 1’600 people at their events. One of the flagship events in 2020, was the Virtual Climate week organised as an opportunity to discuss climate change while the pandemic took the majority of people’s attention, and to ensure one emergency was not ignored during another. There were over 500 participants from 34 countries, and from 76 different organisations.

It also continues to run long-term projects such as Women in STEM, the SWAP Program (see with another perspective), and being a sounding board to the company leadership. The impacts include 700 connections made in 2020 with the ‘Women in STEM’ initiative, where Generation B ambassadors encourage women of all ages (in particular school children) to pursue STEM careers. From the SWAP reverse mentoring programme, Generation B connects all 5 generations that currently work in the company, to encourage diverse thinking and exchange. Generation B also provides feedback to the leadership of Bühler on key topics and supports the company to deploy the long-term strategy.

As a grassroots movement, Generation B has 700 members. The events and long-term change initiatives are driven by 75 Ambassadors across 25 locations around the world. At the heart of this team, is an outstanding selection of One Young World Ambassadors helping to drive change in the company and society at large.

One Young World was the original catalyst to start the Generation B movement and continues to be a source of inspiration. Some selected contributions from Ambassadors:

• Jessica Jones led Generation B in Switzerland from Nov 2019 – Feb 2021
• Katharina Hilker part of the Women in STEM movement
• Yasemin Sharityar co-led the flagship event of 2020 the Climate week
• Sorana Ionita leads Generation B Austria