B Effect
Bombardier Employees Help Move the Community Forward by Giving Back
Started in 2019, B Effect is an employee founded, led and funded volunteer organization consisting of Bombardier employees at the company’s Saint-Laurent Manufacturing Centre (SLMC) and Challenger plant in Dorval.
Olivier Pahud is with Bombardier’s Program Management Office and he is one of the founding members of B Effect. In the interview below, Olivier talks about this volunteer organization, how it’s helping build a sense of community both locally and among employees, and how the demand for support has increased during Covid.
What inspired you to launch B Effect?
The idea of B Effect started as an opportunity to increase engagement among employees. As part of a friendly Dragon's Den competition in 2018 organized by the SLMC Human Resources team, we proposed the idea for a volunteer organization that employees would feel ownership towards and channel efforts at helping the community. It was very important to us that this be an employee led initiative and we presented the idea and it was accepted—and B Effect was born.
B Effect in numbers
2019
112
20+
Do you find that there is a bigger need for B Effect today than before?
YES! The pandemic has created a bigger need for low income families. They were disproportionately impacted by the closures and sanitary measures and the organizations we support in food distribution saw their demand explode in the last year. We feel very privileged to be in a position to help out and this really motivated our desire for action and to give back to our community.
What are some of your most memorable experiences?
For the activities I’ve personally participated, I always remember the pride, dedication and enthusiasm of our employees giving their time and passion. Our partners always tell us we overachieve the objectives of the day! One of these instances was an event we did with Centre Bon Courage. We arrived early and started to create the boxes for the food baskets. We were so eager that the organization had to stop us because we had created enough food baskets for almost a month’s supply! Also, at the same event, their delivery truck broke down. So, we started to organize for a Bombardier truck to do the delivery. We had managers calling and making arrangements. In the end they were able to get their truck fixed, but I find this really illustrates our dedication. And despite the 1-hour delay to the schedule, we managed to unload and create the boxes on-time!
How can Bombardier employees get involved?
We do a yearly campaign to encourage employees eligible to participate to register. The SLMC steering committee still actively supports the project and makes sure that at least one member of the management participates in each activity. In addition, throughout the year, new volunteers sign up mainly through the word of mouth of their colleagues after an activity. We are also planning to expand the B Effect to other Bombardier plants and offices, so stay tuned!
