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Ekta Tekawade
2

Dear Members, We are planning to initiate buddy program for new joinees-

Below is the draft for the same please share your suggestions if any-

The Buddy program - buddy briefing document:

1. OVERVIEW

Accurex is pleased to implement a Buddy Program to assist new employees in the early months of their employment with us.

This document is primarily designed to brief those who will be the new employee’s Buddies, but it will also help new employees, and the managers of both, understand more fully what the Buddy Program is, and what is expected of each party involved in the buddy relationship.

2. THE ORIENTATION PROGRAM

The Buddy Program is an integral part of the Accurex orientation program for new employees.

Buddies will be contacted by HR Department.

3. OUTLINE OF THE BUDDY PROGRAM

The Buddy Program pairs new employees with employees who have been with the Accurex for some time (typically 6 - 12 months), for a period of three months, with two goals:

To provide the new employee with a point of contact for general queries regarding day-to-day operational issues, [such as the location of facilities, information processing requirements and relevant company policies] and

To help the new employee integrate with the company by providing access to someone who is familiar with our culture, attitude and expectations.

The program is coordinated by HR and supported by the reporting managers.

4. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

By providing such a relationship, it is intended that:

The new employee will feel more at home with the company, in a shorter period.

Relatively straightforward queries regarding basic operational issues are dealt with in a timely manner.

The initial confusion and uncertainty faced by new employees will be reduced.

The new employee begins to add value more quickly, leading to increased confidence and self-esteem.

You, the buddy, are actively involved in make this a better place to work, and our new employees more productive.

5. SELECTION AND PAIRING OF BUDDIES

Employees are nominated by departmental managers on the basis of two criteria:

The employee’s interpersonal skills; and

Their understanding and commitment to the Accurex vision mission and values.

The program coordinator will allocate nominate buddies to new employees. Where at all possible, buddies will be matched with new employees in their own department.

6. ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BUDDY

Scheduling regular contact, such as phone calls, video calls.

Sharing insights about work culture.

Discussing why you like to work at Accurex.

Answering and addressing queries and providing feedback.

7. MEETING YOUR BUDDY

After you have been notified of the name and other relevant information regarding the new employee you will be working with, it is up to you to make contact with them at the earliest available opportunity. This may be on their first day of joining.

CONTENT OF MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

Your first meeting with your new employee should be introductory in nature. Explain the operation of any equipment or systems they need in order to commence work. Be familiar with the content of the orientation training, so that you do not duplicate any training being provided there.

Explain to the new employee how they can contact you during the day and clear any ground rules regarding contact outside working hours.

Ask if they have any initial queries or issues, and resolve them.

FREQUENCY AND TIMING OF MEETINGS

You should aim to meet regularly for at least 30 minutes, once a week during their first month and at least once a month thereafter.

During the working day, it may be reasonable to expect as many as 4 or 5 brief queries a day from the new employee in the first few days, tapering down to one or two a day thereafter. Although all new employees are different, after 2-3 months, you may hear little or nothing from them on a daily basis. THIS IS A GOOD SIGN. If you are still getting a large number of ''urgent'' queries after the first month, then the buddy program is not working, and you should speak to the program coordinator.

9. EXPECTATIONS FROM THE RELATIONSHIP

Your relationship with the new employee should be open, confidential, positive and supportive.

Discussions between you and the new employee should be confidential.

END OF THE RELATIONSHIP

The buddy relationship between you and the new employee will end post completing 3 months.

REVIEW OF THE RELATIONSHIP

At the end of the relationship, the program coordinator will ask you to fill in a brief questionnaire aimed at improving the Buddy Program. It does not involve the issues discussed between you and the new employee.

Questionnaire to review buddy program:

Thank you so much for participating in our buddy program We sincerely hope you got a lot out of it personally, and that you will consider acting as a buddy again.

This brief questionnaire is intended solely to help us in the review and re-design of the Buddy Program, in order that it can best meet everyone’s needs.

Please return this questionnaire to _____________________ by_____________________(date)

Questionnaire:

Please indicate which of the following apply, by circling the relevant number:

1 = strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = neither agree not disagree; 4 = Agree; 5 = strongly agree

I was satisfactorily briefed regarding my role as a buddy:

1 2 3 4 5

I was happy with the way in which I was allocated my buddy:

1 2 3 4 5

My buddy seemed satisfactorily briefed regarding his / her role;

1 2 3 4 5

I was happy with the support provided by the program co-coordinator;

1 2 3 4 5

The frequency of our meetings was adequate;

1 2 3 4 5

The content of our discussions was appropriate;

1 2 3 4 5

The aims and objectives of the buddy relationship, as set out in point 4 of the Buddy Briefing Guide, were met*;

1 2 3 4 5

From India, Mumbai
Dinesh Divekar
7879

Dear Ekta,

Good to note that you would like to launch "Buddy Programme" in your company. Buddy programme is similar to mentoring programme nevertheless latter has edge over former. I say so since I have helped few companies in establishing mentoring programme in the company.

You have given here policy on buddy programme in the company. Nevertheless, what about risk assessment of this programme? You could have written about it also. Buddy programme has inherent flaws as such. How will you overcome them?

Suggestions: - You have invited the suggestions on your proposed buddy programme. I appreciate you being openhearted. Following are my suggestions:

a) You would like to make buddy an employee who has completed 6-12 months in the company. Nevertheless, in such a short time span what would be his/her understanding about the company? What if he/she misinterprets something albeit inadvertently?

b) Expecting buddy who himself/herself is novice to have understanding of the vision and mission of the company is too much. Far from buddy, how many managers understand the vision, mission and values of the company?

c) Who is going to monitor that buddy programme is executed exactly as planned? What if there is variation in teaching between/among pairs? How will you ensure 100% uniformity in the execution of the programme by all the buddies?

d) Is length of the service, which is 6-12 months, is a qualifying requirement? What about the skills other than interpersonal skills? How will you assess the buddy has interpersonal skills or it is your just assumption?

e) What if the buddy does not have answer to the questions that junior will raise? What is the escalation procedure? If there is no escalation procedure then will it demotivate juniors?

f) What if fights erupt between the pair? What if buddy starts dominating the junior?

g) Who will ensure that buddy meetings are not held casually or in a cavalier manner? What if the meetings start happening in the lunch room or as a offline discussion at the water cooler? Who will maintain the records of the meeting and who will check those records? What if the records are maintained impeccably but ground reality was different? What if the junior becomes buddy after some time and starts passing off the records rather than maintaining the fresh records?

h) What if the buddy himself or herself is disgruntled and talks negative about the company?

i) What about the attraction towards opposite gender if the members of the pair have different gender? What if the buddy becomes beau? What if the buddy programme becomes conduit for the romance?

Final comments: - If the buddy programme is not launched, then I recommend you launching the Formal Mentoring Programme. Mentoring is a major Organisation Development (OD) initiative and it has capacity to engage the employees. Call me on my mobile and I will tell you the better alternative.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

From India, Bangalore
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