Buddy System - Meaning of Buddy System And Its Importance | HRMantra HR Software

Buddy System - Meaning of Buddy System And Its Importance | HRMantra HR Software

5-6 minutes

Buddy System in Workplace

The buddy system in the workplace includes assigning existing employees as ''buddy'' with new hires so that they won''t get overwhelmed in the initial days of joining.

Buddy system strives to generate an atmosphere of mentorship, teamwork, and a flexible workplace environment where the new joiner gets easily navigated through professional challenges.

Importance of Buddy System in Workplace

Buddy system at the workplace lays down the strong foundation of the new joiners at the organization. Let us comprehend it in a detailed manner:

Onboarding

While the buddy system is an undeniable concept, hassle-free onboarding gets really difficult for new employees to transition and break the ice with new colleagues and understand processes and formalities. All in all, a buddy may be the familiar face to discuss challenges and understand workplace culture to guide new joiners in going through every onboarding process in a streamlined way.

Better Efficiency and Productivity

Buddy system results in increasing efficiency of new candidates by guiding them through database required, documentation processes, workflows to be followed, resources to be referred and the style of working followed at workplace

Boost Employee''s Morale

Since a new employee seeks emotion support right after his onboarding process so that he won''t get lost amid the processes and would consume lots of time to gear up, a buddy system thereby helps develop a feeling of attachment or connection and reduces feelings of seclusion while contributing towards a positive work environment.

What are the Benefits of a Buddy System at Work?

Some of the benefits of the buddy system for new employees include:

• Exponential learning curve
• Better job satisfaction
• Low turnover rates
• Good communication
• Positive work culture

How does the Buddy System Work?

The buddy system assigns a buddy or friend to the new joiner for some specified time. In most cases, buddies are assigned in the same department depending upon roles and responsibilities assigned to the new joiner.

In the induction process, the buddy will communicate, guide, and assist in a structured way to make the new joiner familiar with the organization.

It simply provides a collaborative landscape and a clear line of communication even before the new joiner enters the workplace.

How to Implement a Buddy System at Work?

To implement a buddy system at work, you have to be well-versed with the following attributes:

Authentic Leadership

In order to implement this concept of buddy system, the leaders have to be supportive enough to introduce it and keep the system intact.

Leaders need to show their strong interest in the experience of employees from day one even before the buddy system is introduced

Anticipated Advice to Buddies

Whenever you are introducing any of the system, you ensure that all your employees are well-aware and well-trained to make it a successful implementation process.

So, similarly, when you introduce buddy system, make sure that your employees know how to behave, have a skillset to properly communicate and collaborate, have welcoming gestures and are able to address any requirements of their counter buddy.

Seek feedback from new employees and old employees regularly to identify areas of improvement and make the buddy system a huge success.

Characteristics of a Good Buddy

Characteristics of a good buddy include:

• Empathy
• Effective communication skills
• Patience as a virtue
• Approachability
• Adaptability

Buddy Responsibilities

Responsibilities of buddy include:

• Guidance and support, such as answering questions, providing insight into organizational culture, and helping to understand workflows.
• Advocacy, such as guiding newcomers around office dynamics, sharing experiences, asking for suggestions for improvement, etc.
• Onboarding support in understanding the culture of the company, expectation of RMS, colleagues, mission and vision of the company, and other necessary details.
• Social integration through invitation to coffee breaks, team lunches and other informal get-togethers for actually building relations

Feedback Mechanism

As and when you assign buddies, make sure to take feedback from new joiners after regular intervals of time. Many a time, intentions, expectations and actions do not match, and experience of first few days might ruin

Summing Up

In brief, the buddy system helps a lot in establishing relations right from the very start and making a first impression. It lays the foundation for a positive work culture.

Studies have shown that ""New hires with buddies were 23% more satisfied with their overall onboarding experience after the first week of work compared to those without buddies."" The trend continued at 90 days, when this increase in satisfaction surged to 36%. Those with buddies also reported getting more active support from their manager and the broader team.

So, if you don''t have a buddy system in your organization, definitely put this in place ASAP, and see that the employee experience is good from day one.

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