6 reasons why your company should offer an onboarding buddy

The first day at a new job is always exciting, but it can also be pretty nerve-wracking—especially when it’s remote. So, how can you help ease those first-day jitters? Along with providing a structured and organized (remote) onboarding process, pair them up with someone they can rely on: a (virtual) onboarding buddy!

Giving new hires an onboarding buddy means they’ll always have someone to chat with. It’s a great way to share knowledge in a relaxed, informal way, helping them get a better feel for how things work and what the company culture is like. Need more reasons? Here are 6 more why your company should offer an onboarding buddy!

1. Retain employees

According to data compiled by Brandon Hall Group, organizations with a strong onboarding program improve their retention of new employees by a whopping 82%. In fact, research by Digitate says that employees who have a negative onboarding experience are nearly twice as likely to start job hunting within their first year of employment.

One way to boost onboarding success is by assigning a buddy. HBR research shows that new hires with an onboarding buddy are 23% more satisfied with their overall experience after the first week compared to those without one. This satisfaction jumps to 36% after 90 days.

By implementing an onboarding buddy, you ensure your program gets that extra layer of support, helping new hires feel heard and supported throughout their onboarding journey. This simple addition can make a significant difference in their overall experience.

2. Build relationships between co-workers

When new hires work individually or remotely, they are not given a lot of opportunities to interact with others. This could lead to job disengagement and poor productivity.

Now, imagine starting your first day with a colleague who’s there to chat, share ideas, grab lunch, or even crack a few jokes. An onboarding buddy program can foster strong, lasting relationships and make employees feel more connected and happier in their roles.

Gallup has repeatedly shown that having best friends at work is key to employee engagement and job success.  People who have friends at work are seven times as likely to be engaged in their jobs, and having a close friend at work is related to a 50% boost in job satisfaction.

So you could say it’s good for business to help build working relationships. 

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3. Boost productivity

Speeding up the productivity of the new hires is one of the main reasons to pair them up with onboarding buddies. At Microsoft, they found that the more the onboarding buddy met with the new hire, the greater the new hire’s perception of their own speed to productivity. According to the Harvard Business Review:

“56% of new hires who met with their onboarding buddy at least once in their first 90 days indicated 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 with their buddy, 86% for those who met four to eight times, and 97% for those who met more than eight times in their first 90 days.”

Clearly, that additional layer of support is critical to a new hire’s success. 

Appical tip: Encourage buddies and new hires to schedule regular meetings to improve productivity.

4. Make new hires feel welcome

Not everyone is a natural when it comes to fitting in, some need a helping hand. Partnering new hires with an experienced colleague makes the new employees feel more relaxed and welcome in their new job. Someone who might have been nervous can immediately feel like a valued part of the team.

In this first crucial stage, the buddy onboarding program can help new hires understand aspects of the job and company culture that they might otherwise overlook.

Buddy duties (if it’s at the office) are more than just offering directions to the toilet and where the coffee machine is. They should share helpful, socially-focused information to make sure the new hires feel right at home and welcome, such as:

• The best spot to get a club sandwich for lunch
• Where to get the best latte macchiato
• Where everyone goes for the happy hour drinks
• The quickest option to travel to work 
• How casual is too casual for Casual Fridays (can you wear your glitter shorts/skirt?)
• How to access the office in the weekend
• The kitchen rules (what to clean up and what can you use?)
• How to fill out the expense form and who you need to send it to
• How to go about internal discussions and make sure decisions are made faster

5. Less nervous, more confident

An onboarding buddy program should be casual, supportive, and private. When new hires have a buddy they can trust, they’re more comfortable asking questions without worrying about details being passed around the office. This sense of trust and confidentiality allows them to be more creative and innovative. With a supportive buddy providing valuable feedback, new hires build confidence in themselves and their ideas.

6. Benefits for the buddy

It's not just new hires who benefit from this relationship. Being an onboarding buddy offers a great opportunity for buddies to showcase and develop their leadership skills. Teaching others can reinforce the buddy’s own knowledge, helping them achieve a deeper level of expertise. Additionally, serving as a buddy allows them to expand their network and gain fresh perspectives on their own role.

Learn more about buddies in our Onboarding Buddy Toolbox

There is a lot more to learn about the onboarding buddy than what we could cover in this blog. Therefore we have composed an Onboarding Buddy Toolbox with all the information you need to get your onboarding buddy program started and on point.

This blog was originally published on 09/16/2020 and updated on 08/20/2024.