One of the best ways to improve your new employee onboarding experience is by implementing a buddy system. It's simple, and cost-effective!
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Happy employees begin with thoughtful onboarding!
This type of program benefits new hires, the company, and the buddies themselves!
✔️ Speed up the integration process for new hires by helping them connecting to their new working environment in no time!
✔️ Cultivate belonging to boost commitment and motivation from Day1, for higher levels of productivity.
✔️ Improve retention rates by 52%, cutting turnover costs.
✔️ Enable buddies to develop their skills to communicate, mentor and teach!
Feel free to use our program template "🤜 Onboarding buddy program", accessible from the "Use Cases Library" in your RandomCoffee platform!
Below are a few questions to help you prepare your buddy program.
How will you identify buddies? (online form for volunteers? Suggested by managers?)
Is each buddy matched only once with a new hire? Or can a buddy be matched several times with several new hires? (For example, if you implement this program on a monthly basis, are the buddies the same from month to month?)
How soon after being hired do you want to invite new hires to take part in this program?
What is the duration of the buddy relationship?
What are the role and responsibilities of buddies?
How often should new hires meet with their buddies, and for how long?
✨ Pro tip
At Microsoft, 56% of new hires who met with their onboarding buddy at least once in the first 90 days felt it helped them become productive quickly. This rose to 73% with two to three meetings, 86% with four to eight, and 97% with more than eight meetings.
Source: Harvard Business Review.
A key factor in establishing a successful buddy system is selecting the right employees as buddies.
Ideally, they should have been with the company for a while and possess a solid understanding of its structure, processes, culture, values, and mission. This ensures they can share valuable insights with new hires.
Buddies should be friendly, approachable, and have strong communication skills. It's also crucial that they are willing participants, as forcing someone into the role could create a negative first impression.
Moreover, it’s important to define the buddy’s role description clearly. Buddies should know how to balance their regular responsibilities with their onboarding duties.
✨ Pro tip
You can also incentivize the program to encourage participation, by offering buddies cool perks (exclusive shirts, mugs, or gift cards to have coffee!). Recognize and reward their commitment to helping strengthen company culture through their efforts.
To ensure the success of your onboarding buddy program, it's essential to provide thorough training for buddies, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to effectively support new hires.
Clearly define the buddy's role, which typically focuses on social and cultural onboarding rather than job-specific tasks or performance metrics. However, the scope may vary based on the program’s goals and the organization’s needs.
Make sure buddies have access to key information, including: company policies, cultural norms, and resources for new employees.
In the examples below:
New hires are invited to the buddy program the month after they joined the company (e.g. if a new hire joins the company on March 16th, he will be uploaded to RandomCoffee on April 1st and receive the invitation on April 7th.).
New hires only get matched once with their buddy.
New hires are updated on a monthly basis.
A buddy can be matched with several new hires, depending on the selected option.
👉 Do you want to keep the same buddies for several rounds, or change buddies each month?
Choose the option that works best for you! Then:
Prepare your list of buddies and new hires in a csv file. This file should include at least 3 columns: email, first name, last name.
Add a column called "Buddy program", and specify the right value for each individual:
Identify new hires with: "New hires - joined in [Month-1, Year]"
Identify buddies with: "Buddies - [Month, Year]"
You can also add other columns ("Department", "Hobbies", etc.) with associated values, so that you can leverage them in the matching rules!
When your file is ready, save it as a csv.
Open your RandomCoffee platform, access the Members tab, and click "Add new members".
Upload your csv file, and click "Continue".
Create a new category based on the column "Buddy program" (you can choose the "dropdown" type).
Feel free to deactivate the welcome email.
You can now find your buddies and new hires in your Member list.
Create a new program from scratch.
Choose a name and a description for this program.
In the "Matchmaking" tab, choose a group size of 2, and select the "Group composer" algorithm.
Define the seat by seat distribution:
Seat 1 -> "New hires - joined in [Month-1, Year]"
Seat 2 -> "Buddies - [Month, Year]" or "Buddies" depending on the option you've chosen
If you allow rematching, like in the example above, some buddies will be matched several times, so that each new hire has a buddy.
Since your buddies are already identified, you can select the option "Ask for participation - specific people only" to send invitations only to new hires:
You can also add matching rules, based on categories:
In the "Communication" tab, choose the "Email" communication channel, and select "Buddies - [Month, Year]" (or just "Buddies") and "New hires - joined in [Month-1, Year]", as specified in the timeline below:
Then, customize the invitation email (for new hires only) and the match email.
Feel free to use the reuse banners below!
In the match email, do not forget to include details about the buddy program.
✨ Pro tip
You can add some conversation starters in the match email, we give you some examples here.
When you're ready, plan your session: in the "Sessions" tab, click "Schedule a new session", then select "Automatic Session(s)".
Select the dates when the invitation and the matches should be sent (in our example, the invitation are sent on the 7th, and the matches on the 14th).
In the recurrence field, choose "Every 4 weeks on same days" so that invitations are sent each month.
Your program is now ready, and your sessions planned!
Then, each month (between the 1st and the 7th), you'll have to:
Upload the new hires who joined the company during the last month, and the buddies to be matched in the current month, by repeating step 3.
Update the audience of your program to include the right people.
We hope you found this guide useful! 🤗
Feel free to contact us if your have any questions or suggestions.
