How to Start an Onboarding Buddy Program (+Checklist)

Onboarding a new employee is an exciting and stressful time for the HR team, people managers, and the new hire.

Both the HR team and managers play an essential role in the employee onboarding process. However, a broader team effort shouldn’t be overlooked. These efforts create a positive and productive onboarding experience that cultivates social connections for new employees, helps them understand the nuances of a company and its products, and provides them with opportunities to integrate themselves within the company culture.

Many new hires experience a steep learning curve when starting a new role. However, an onboarding buddy program enables new hires to establish new relationships throughout the company, acquire institutional knowledge and inside information, receive the encouragement they need to get comfortable in the workplace, ease the transitional period, and improve the overall employee experience.

In this post, we’ll explain what an onboarding buddy is and how to create a new hire onboarding buddy program. Discover why implementing an onboarding buddy program as part of your employee onboarding checklist can be helpful for new hires.

What Is an Onboarding Buddy?

An onboarding buddy is a current employee who assists the new employee and acts as a support system through the onboarding process. The role of a buddy is different from that of a mentor or coach. An onboarding buddy educates the new hire about the company’s day-to-day processes, introduces them to the team, helps build social connections, accelerates time-to-productivity, and helps them build confidence and feel comfortable in the new work environment.

The responsibilities of an onboarding buddy include:

• Helping a new hire set up their systems.
• Introducing the new hire to the team.
• Including the new hire in social activities, such as lunches, coffee breaks, and informal outings.
• Sharing company values and vision.
• Teaching unfamiliar tasks.
• Answering questions and referring to pertinent resources.
• Taking the new hire for an expanded tour of the work location.
• Holding short weekly meetings to help the new hire with daily tasks.

Onboarding Buddy vs Mentor

Onboarding buddies and mentors are both important. While similar, they serve different purposes. An onboarding buddy helps the new hire adjust. They make it easier for the new employee to navigate aspects of their job and learn the company culture. A mentor offers a longer-term relationship. This is part of an employee’s professional development.

These are some of the differences you should consider:

Benefits of Having an Onboarding Buddy?

Here are a few of the most significant benefits of launching an onboarding buddy program at your organization:

1. Boosts productivity

When a company spends so much time and effort hiring an employee, it expects to see a quick return on investment. Meanwhile, the new hire needs time to adapt to the new culture and learn about their roles and responsibilities.

Allowing new hires to shadow an existing employee (the onboarding buddy), ask questions about the job, understand company processes, and collaborate on introductory-level tasks makes them feel comfortable and confident about their new job and boosts productivity at an early stage.

2. Improves new employee satisfaction

Pairing a new hire with an onboarding buddy with a considerable amount of experience at the company helps calm the new employee’s nerves. It gives them the understanding and training they need to handle their responsibilities better. Getting the right direction and guidance avoids employee frustration and improves overall job satisfaction.

3. Enhances employee experience

An onboarding buddy acts as a new hire’s best friend, helping them fast forward through the first few months, skipping over awkward moments and settling well into an unfamiliar environment.

Additionally, an onboarding buddy provides context regarding different stakeholders, navigating the organization, approaching day-to-day responsibilities, company rules, policies, and other important information. All this helps your new hires acclimate to their new company and improve their overall employee experience.

Responsibilities of an Onboarding Buddy

An onboarding buddy helps employees find their way in the work environment. Their responsibilities go beyond simple introductions. They extend into many aspects of the new employee’s initial experience. Here’s a look at what an onboarding buddy should do.

1. Welcome and introduce the new hire

The buddy should greet the new employee on their first day. The goal is to help the new hire feel at ease. This includes introducing them to team members they’ll interact with. This should be a day-one priority for the onboarding buddy.

2. Provide a tour

HR might give an introductory workplace tour. However, the buddy should offer a more detailed walkthrough of the office. This includes pointing out essential areas like meeting rooms and explaining any office norms or unwritten rules about shared spaces. The buddy may focus on digital workplace elements such as Slack channels to join, meet-up opportunities, how to use intranet portals, etc.

3. Assist with system setup

New employees often need help with getting necessary systems up and running. The buddy should be prepared to help with these technical setups. In cases where they may not have an answer, they should direct the new hire to support channels.

4. Explain company culture and values

Buddies can provide insights into how the company’s values manifest and share examples of how these values influence decision-making. This will make it easier for new employees to adjust. Onboarding buddies are also excellent ways to integrate employees into culture-related activities, like getting an invite to a happy hour or finding their way to interest clubs in the organization.

How to Identify and Select Onboarding Buddies

Choosing the right employees to be onboarding buddies will make your program successful. To find the right people, follow these steps.

Look for strong performers

Choose employees who consistently meet or exceed expectations. These individuals have a good grasp of their job responsibilities. That’s a good indicator that they may be able to get new employees up to speed.

Consider communication skills

Soft skills are a large part of being a good onboarding buddy. Select buddies who are excellent communicators. They should be able to explain processes clearly. They should also be approachable for questions.

Assess cultural fit

Pick employees who embody the company’s values and culture. They should be positive ambassadors for your organization. They should also have a track record of engaging well with others and building good workplace relationships.

Evaluate willingness to help

Someone may make for a good onboarding buddy on paper, but they have to be ready to take on the responsibility. Identify individuals who genuinely enjoy helping others. Enthusiasm for the buddy role is essential for its success.

Check availability

Willingness is a good sign. That said, employees must also have the space to be part of the program. Ensure potential buddies have the time to commit to the program. They should be able to balance their regular duties with buddy responsibilities.

Seek diverse perspectives

All types of employees can have something to bring to the table as an onboarding buddy. Try to select buddies from different departments and backgrounds. This diversity can provide new hires with a well-rounded view of the company.

Consider tenure

Having buddies with at least a year of experience in the company can benefit everyone. They’ll understand the organization well, which will help the new hire. These employees may also be more likely to feel comfortable in the buddy role.

By carefully selecting onboarding buddies, you create a strong foundation for your buddy program. This will help ensure new hires receive the support and guidance they need.

How to Create an Onboarding Buddy Program (+Checklist)

Here is a checklist to help you create and launch a successful onboarding buddy program for your new hires.

1. Create a simple onboarding buddy program document

You need to create a simple and formal document that outlines how the work buddy program will work and defines the purpose, roles, ground rules, length of time, etc.

2. Choose the right onboarding buddy

An onboarding buddy upholds your organization’s values and helps share a sense of pride and loyalty in new employees. Here are some of the most important qualities you need to look for in your onboarding buddy:

• Sufficient knowledge about the new hire’s role
• Strong job performance history
• Has extra time to assist the new hire
• At least a year’s worth of company experience
• The enthusiasm and skills to help new hires
• Has patience, as well as strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Reports to the same manager as the new hire
• Is well-liked across the organization, with strong connections in various departments

Let’s also have a look at what an onboarding buddy is not:

• A buddy is not a substitute for the supervisor or mentor.
• A buddy is not involved in the new hire’s individual development or job performance.
• An onboarding buddy should not be held accountable for the new hire’s performance.
• It should not be a disgruntled employee or someone who is nearing retirement.

3. Create a checklist for the topics that buddy needs to cover with the new hire

Finally, create a checklist that lists all the different topics and goals your buddy will accomplish with your new hires. You can follow this checklist schedule:

Before the New Employee Starts: Learn more about the new employee by reviewing their resume, LinkedIn, and manager’s notes on their hiring process.

Day 1

• Greet the new employee and introduce yourself early in their first day
• Have a quick get-to-know-you session with the new employee
• Conduct an introductory tour around the office for the new employee to meet everyone
• Share your contact information
• Help with answering questions or pointing new hire in the right direction

First week

• Introduce the employee to their coworkers
• Explain briefly every team member’s role to the new employee
• Help the new hire with ordering equipment and other office supplies
• Take the new employee out for lunch
• Explain employee role and expectations
• Explain any employee perks, wellness programs, benefits, cultural events, etc.
• Explain in brief the internal communication and collaboration tools for new hires to start connecting with their coworkers

First few months

• Conduct weekly check-in meetings with the new team member to see how things are going and if they have any questions or challenges. You can create a weekly schedule for new hires to help them get into a rhythm and understand the recurring tasks and the functions they’re responsible for.
• Explain company methods and style of work at the organization.
• Sit with the employee to see how things are going and to hear out their comments, ideas, and updates and help them anywhere they get stuck.

Starting your own onboarding buddy program? Get your free onboarding buddy checklist template now!

4. Evaluate the buddy program via a new-hire survey

The onboarding buddy program needs to be evaluated to determine its effectiveness. At the end of the program, the program coordinator or hiring manager should ask the new employee to complete a brief questionnaire to get feedback on the program.

Software Clicks Better With Whatfix

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Whatfix provides application owners and IT teams with a comprehensive no-code platform to enable users, improve onboarding, and drive adoption. This will help you achieve business outcomes and create frictionless digital experiences.

With Whatfix:

• Enable end-users to have contextual, role-based in-app onboarding and training with Whatfix in-app guidance and experiences like Tours, Flows, and Task Lists.
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• Build sandbox environments for simulated hands-on training with Whatfix Mirror.
• Collect  feedback with Whatfix Surveys
• Analyze end-user behavior to identify areas of digital friction and map optimal workflows with Whatfix Analytics.

With Whatfix, you can understand how your employees use and under-adopt your technology. This makes it easier to adjust software onboarding, training, support, and overall end-user adoption strategies—all to provide a seamless experience for every end-user that enables them with the right context and support to utilize new technologies and systems fully.

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