What does an onboarding buddy do?

A buddy answers everyday questions, introduces the new hire to people and checks in during the first weeks. They are usually a peer on the same or a nearby team, not the manager, so questions feel low stakes.

How long should an onboarding buddy program last?

Around three months is common. Microsoft measured the first 90 days and found the benefit grew with each meeting, so plan regular contact across that period rather than only in week one.

How do you choose an onboarding buddy?

Pick someone who knows how things work, is friendly and has time. Being on a nearby team helps, and so does being a little ahead in the same kind of role, so their advice is current.

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Onboarding and playbooks

Onboarding buddy and check-in messages

Three onboarding messages: asking someone to be a buddy, introducing them to the new hire, and checking in after two weeks.

New onboarding program. Opens a new onboarding program with these messages and timings. Every hire’s messages wait for your approval before they send.

Use in Shuffl

The three messages most new hires should get in their first weeks. They work for any role, in the office or remote.

A buddy is a colleague, not the manager, who answers the everyday questions a new hire may not want to ask their boss.

Shuffl · HR by the numbers

Buddies help new hires get going

Source: SHRM, August 18, 2022²Download PNG

Asking someone to be a buddy

To the person you ask to be a buddy, 5 days before the start date.

**Would you be {{hire}}’s onboarding buddy?** 👋

{{hire}} joins on {{start_date}}. A buddy answers the everyday questions and helps a new colleague feel at home. It takes about an hour a week for the first month.

Introducing the hire and their buddy

To the new hire and their buddy together, on the start date.

**Meet your onboarding buddy** 👋

{{hire}} starts on {{start_date}}. {{buddy}} has agreed to be their buddy: someone to ask the small questions, share how things work and grab a coffee with in the first weeks.

Find 30 minutes together this week to say hello.

Checking in with the new hire

To the new hire, 14 days after the start date.

**How is your first stretch going, {{hire}}?**

It has been a couple of weeks. If anything is stuck, like access, tools or expectations, say so and a named person from HR will follow up with you directly.

How to adapt it

Shuffl fills in {{hire}}, {{buddy}} and {{start_date}} for each new hire. Replace them by hand if you send the message yourself.
Ask the buddy before the start date, so they have time to say no.
Name a real person in the check-in, so the new hire knows who will follow up.

What the research says

Microsoft tested onboarding buddies in a 2018 pilot with 600 people and published what it learned in Harvard Business Review.¹ New hires who met their buddy at least once in their first 90 days were more likely to say the buddy helped them become productive quickly (56%).²

The benefit grew with contact. 73% of new hires who met their buddy two or three times said they were more productive, rising to 86% for four to eight meetings and 97% for more than eight.² These are people’s own reports at one company, but the pattern is clear: one coffee isn’t enough.

Buddies can also start friendships. In the US, just two in ten employees report having a best friend at work, and Gallup finds those who do are more likely to get more done and enjoy work.³

Common mistakes

Asking someone who is about to go on leave or is swamped. A buddy needs real time in the first month.
Stopping after one coffee. Put several meetings in the calendar for the first 90 days.
Giving the buddy no brief. Tell them what the role involves: everyday questions, introductions and check-ins.
Never thanking the buddy. Recognize the time it takes, and ask what would make the next pairing better.

Common questions

What does an onboarding buddy do?: A buddy answers everyday questions, introduces the new hire to people and checks in during the first weeks. They are usually a peer on the same or a nearby team, not the manager, so questions feel low stakes.
How long should an onboarding buddy program last?: Around three months is common. Microsoft measured the first 90 days and found the benefit grew with each meeting, so plan regular contact across that period rather than only in week one.
How do you choose an onboarding buddy?: Pick someone who knows how things work, is friendly and has time. Being on a nearby team helps, and so does being a little ahead in the same kind of role, so their advice is current.

Sources

Read on October 13, 2026. Numbers change as new studies come out, so check the source before you quote it.

Harvard Business Review, Every New Employee Needs an Onboarding “Buddy”, June 6, 2019. By Dawn Klinghoffer, Candice Young and Dave Haspas of Microsoft.
SHRM, Work Buddies Can Help New Employees Transition into Job, Organizational Culture, August 18, 2022. Reports Microsoft’s research from a six-month buddy pilot with 600 participants in 2018. Figures are new hires’ own reports of how quickly they became productive.
Gallup, The Increasing Importance of a Best Friend at Work, August 16, 2022 (updated January 19, 2024). By Alok Patel and Stephanie Plowman. Web survey of 16,586 U.S. employees on the Gallup Panel, June 13-23, 2022.