Set up an Onboarding buddy program

Why set up a buddy program?

Having a buddy helps new hires navigate an organization’s unspoken cultural norms, build up their networks, and get deeper context about the organization - all of which leads to them feeling more engaged, confident, and productive.

Zavvy’s buddy recipient allows you automatically remind buddies to welcome their new hires on their first day, set up casual lunch breaks individually or with the team, and be there in key moments throughout their journey as new employees at your company.

Create Steps for Buddies in your Onboarding

Step 1: Create steps for the buddy

For example:

Day 1: 🚀 Welcome the new hire
Day 5: 🌯 Go for a lunch
Day 30: 🎉 Check-in

You’re free to create whatever fits best with your company’s processes. However, to get you started we created a library of templates for messages, tasks or questions to send to your buddies:

Make your life easier by just using Zavvy's Onboarding Buddies template.

👉 Find it on the templates page.

Step 2: Select buddy as step recipient

As every new hire has their own individual buddy, the buddy is a dynamic role.

👉 Select the Assignee’s buddy as a dynamic role in the dropdown for every step the buddy is supposed to receive.

Find Buddies for new hires

Once your new hire starts you need to define their buddy. There are many ways for you to decide who the buddy of your new hire is. For example:

Choose buddies and assign them to every new hire individually,
Send a survey in your company and ask for volunteers to be randomly assigned, or
Ask a new hire’s manager to choose a buddy.
🤖 You can automate this with Zavvy’s question step. Just include a question-step to the new hire’s manager a few weeks before the new hire’s start date and ask them to answer with the name of a buddy. This way you don’t need to spend time to find a buddy for every new and can just assign the buddy their manager proposes. You can add the new hire’s buddy anytime, even after the Onboarding journey has started.

Assign buddies on Zavvy

In order for Zavvy to be able to notify the right buddy, you need to assign your new hire their buddy on Zavvy. To do so, navigate to the People data page and find your new hire by looking for them in the added employees table. In the column called Buddy type to search for the buddy you would like to assign to your new hire.

🚨 Remember: Whenever you add a new hire, you also need to add & assign them their buddy.

Message Templates for Buddies

Day 1: “👭 Welcome the New Hire!”

Hi!

Thanks again for volunteering as a buddy for our new hire. We highly appreciate your time & efforts to make their first days a great experience 🥰

Your new hire has now arrived and it's time to schedule a first 1:1 with them, so please 📅 find a slot that works for you both.

To help you make the best out of the experience, we prepared some questions and topics to discuss with your new buddy:

What are you looking forward to doing at work?
Do you have any mentors in your professional life?
What was your first paying job?
Who inspires you?
What kind of music do you like?
What’s the best concert you’ve been to?
Do you like traveling?
What’s the best place you’ve traveled to?
Do you like reading? If so, what genre of books do you like?
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
What’s the most exciting part of your job?
Where did you work before this position?
What’s your most-used productivity hack?

Day 5: “🌯 Lunch Break with the New Hire”

Hey Buddy!

It's just about time to take your new hire out for a little lunch.

If remote: Schedule a slot in the new hire's calendar.

If in Office: Find a time to meet up and go to a place nearby the office.

In the following list, you can find some nice food recommendations

[Link food recommenations]

Enjoy your meal and connection. 🌯😍🙌

Day 30: “🕗 30 Day Check-In with new Hire”

Hey Buddy!

Can you believe it - It's been 30 Days since your colleague has joined☝️

It's time for a short check-in. Send them a slack message and ask how they're doing.

Here's a handy template to get you inspired ✨

Hey First Name,

Congrats! 🔥 You're with us now for 30 Days! I'm still very excited to have you on the Team! How's everything? Do you have any questions? Let me know anytime. 🙌