A buddy is an experienced colleague who guides a new employee through their first weeks. This article explains how to assign one. Users with On/Off Boarding Manager and On/Off Boarding Admin make assignments; On/Off Boarding Viewer sees the list.
Before you start
The new employee and the future buddy must both be active employees in Teamso.
The buddy period counts from the new employee's active position start date; if there is no position record, the assignment day is used.
Step by step
On People > Joining processes, switch to the Buddy Management section at the top of the screen. The All, Active and Completed tabs at the top of the list filter the assignments by status; the number on a tab is how many assignments it has. Type the new starter's name in the search box, search by buddy name under Add filter, and order the list with Sort.
Click Assign Buddy. While there are no assignments yet, the Assign Buddy button in the middle of the list opens the same window.
In the New Buddy Assignment window, select the New Starter Employee and the Person to Assign as Buddy (people are listed with their photo and position; type a name in the search box to find someone), and enter the Buddy Duration (Days) (1 to 365 days). All three fields are required. Leave Send introduction email on if the two should be introduced.
Click the Assign Buddy button in the window.
Result
The assignment is added to the list as Active; the table shows New Starter, Buddy, Start Date, Buddy Duration and Status.
If Send introduction email is ticked, both the new employee and the buddy receive an email introducing each other.
When the end date arrives, the assignment changes to Completed automatically overnight. From the row menu you can View (the Buddy Assignment Details window shows both people, the start date, duration and status read-only), Edit (the new starter cannot be changed; the buddy, duration and email option can, saved with Save), Completed (ends the assignment early) and Delete (On/Off Boarding Manager only; the confirmation window is titled Delete buddy assignment).
If the Buddy recipient is selected on an onboarding survey, the survey also goes to the employee's active buddy (Onboarding evaluations).
On a phone and on narrow screens where the table does not fit, the same list opens as cards; the row actions are in the ⋯ menu at the top right of each card.
Common problems
Symptom: When I click Save, the message "This employee already has an active buddy." appears and the assignment is not added to the list.
Cause: An employee can have only one active buddy at a time; a second assignment is not saved.
Fix: Find the employee's existing assignment in the list; complete it or change the buddy with Edit.