Onboarding buddies 101

What is an onboarding buddy program?

An onboarding buddy program is a program whereby new hires are assigned a co-worker to help orient them through the first weeks or months of onboarding. Unlike a manager or HR representative, who are responsible for a new hire’s formal onboarding and training tasks, an onboarding buddy provides informal guidance about everything not mentioned in the organization’s onboarding checklist: unspoken rules or cultural practices, important players or personalities, and even obscure company acronyms or argot. 

Why is a buddy program an important part of social onboarding?

A buddy program strengthens all three branches of onboarding, as these informal relationships help new hires assimilate into the company culture (company onboarding), understand functional responsibilities (functional onboarding) and build social bonds (social onboarding). 

That being said, a buddy system plays a particularly important role in social onboarding, in two ways: automatic time investment and social network exposure.

Automatic time investment

Building social bonds takes time. A 2018 study by Dr. Jeffery Hall, one of the leading authorities on the psychology of friendship, found that to move from casual acquaintance to friend required 45 hours of shared time (and an additional 50 hours of shared time to move from casual friend to close friend!). Without putting in this time, even those with strong social chemistry will fail to bond.

If an organization has a five-days-a-week in-office policy and a culture of social lunches and coffee chats, a new hire can accumulate this sort of shared time with their peers quickly and successfully build social bonds in a short period of time. But in a hybrid or remote environment, or in an organization with a less active social culture, finding space to accumulate this time can be a lot more difficult. 

This is where an onboarding buddy program shines. Done right, an onboarding buddy program involves frequent checkpoints between the new hire and their buddy for the first weeks or months of a new hire’s time at an organization. This ritual gives the new hire an automatic venue for investing time and building a social connection with at least one peer. And since being an onboarding buddy is a voluntary action, those who self-select for it will generally be social and be amenable to building new social ties. 

Without such a program, it is up to the new hire to find ways to carve out time to connect with co-workers - an uncomfortable task for a newcomer faced with a large group of new people with busy schedules. An onboarding buddy creates a turn-key ritual that a new hire can slide into seamlessly and without the guilt or discomfort of asking others for their time. 

Social Network Exposure

Humans are born connectors - we naturally spot shared interests and opportunities between people we know, and put those people together. Because of this, when a new hire builds a connection with their onboarding buddy, they are also building a connection with that buddy’s entire internal social network of colleagues. As the buddy learns about their new colleague, they can suggest introductions to other colleagues, employee resource groups, and Slack or Teams channels that may be relevant for the new hire.

Setting up an onboarding buddy program as part of social onboarding

Use these guidelines to help set up your own onboarding buddy program as part of your social onboarding strategy.

Criteria for becoming an onboarding buddy

When selecting existing employees for your onboarding buddy program, ensure they meet the following criteria:

1. Peer, not manager: An onboarding buddy should be a colleague at a similar level in the organization, rather than a direct supervisor. This gives the new hire space to ask questions they may not feel comfortable asking their manager.
2. In the same function as the new hire: The onboarding buddy should work in the same department or function as the new employee. This ensures the buddy has the relevant knowledge to provide role-specific guidance and can support social introductions to the coworkers the new hire will be working with most often.
3. Available: The onboarding buddy must be around during onboarding - i.e. not on holiday, and not in a time zone with minimal overlap during working hours. 
4. High performer: An onboarding buddy should ideally be someone who excels in their role, to help set the quality bar for new hires.
5. Is a "social connector" in the organization: The onboarding buddy should be someone with strong connections and relationships within the company. This helps the new hire quickly expand their social network, via introductions from the buddy.

Best practices for a strong onboarding buddy program

When setting up the logistics of your onboarding program, consider these best practices:

1. Frequent touchpoints. Relationships take time, so regular checkpoints are important. A widely-cited study of Microsoft’s onboarding buddy program found that while about half (56%) of new hires who met with their onboarding buddy at least once in their first 90 days felt that their buddy helped them to quickly become productive in their role, that percentage increased to 73% for those who met two to three times, 6% for those who met four to eight times, and 97% for those who met more than eight times in their first 90 days. 
2. Pre-scheduled touchpoints. A buddy may feel they are being helpful by indicating that “their door is always open”, instead of setting up more structured checkpoints. But in practice, asking a buddy to schedule time to meet can be uncomfortable for a new hire. A pre-set schedule eliminates this pressure. 
3. Longer time horizons. Even if an organization’s formal onboarding process may only be a few weeks, an employee normally requires up to six months to feel truly assimilated into the organization. More importantly, an employee will have very different questions in week 1, when everything is new, versus in week 10, when the employee begins to work more autonomously. Having an onboarding buddy program which extends for at least 90 days, and ideally up to 6 months, is the best way to continue to support the new employee throughout this journey. 
4. Clear expectations. Provide the onboarding buddy with clear guidelines about what is expected of them in their role as a buddy. When should they reach out, and how often? What sorts of discussions and activities with the buddy are most helpful? Doing so provides leadership with the opportunity to define what a good onboarding buddy looks like, and ensures every buddy is not interpreting the program in their own way. As a good example of setting expectations for an onboarding buddy program, check out Gitlab’s guide for onboarding buddy responsibilities. 
5. Opt-In. Being an onboarding buddy requires both time and interest from the buddy: a co-worker under a tight deadline will struggle to make adequate time for the buddy, and a coworker uninterested in mentorship or social connection will fail to provide the new hire with the support they need. To prevent this, make the buddy program “opt-in” only, vs. a required responsibility or rotating duty shared amongst the team. 
6. Recognize the work. Being an onboarding buddy is a time commitment that helps the organization, and the employee who chooses to take it on should be recognized for this work.  At a minimum, public recognition of the buddy’s help is important, ideally accompanied by a small gift of appreciation. Even better, make clear that repeated stints acting as a buddy (combined with positive feedback from the new hire) is promotable work, and is a way to demonstrate the mentorship or coaching experience that is often required for an individual contributor to be promoted into a management role.

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