Testing the Buddy Program (Human Resources) Tool: learning launch Author: Natalya Kotov March 22, 2020

CHALLENGE I work in HR for a big multinational. Over past few months we have been  deep diving into employee experience of new hires. After interviewing tens of  new joiners across several countries and conducting journey mapping  sessions with them, we have identiﬁed a recurring pain point. Most of new  hires did not have a buddy (guide) to support them during their initial weeks.  What was missing is someone available to answer their questions, introduce  to other people, show around the ofﬁce, describe company culture. New hires  were highlighting the social aspect more than a need for a speciﬁc technical  onboarding. Despite the support from their hiring managers, formal induction  programs and team lunches, the problem was clear: new hires felt  unsupported.

SELECTION To tackle this problem, a team of 5 HR professionals from different streams  was formed. I was the project leader. During our ideation session we came up  with a volunteer-based Buddy program. We draw how the ﬂow would look like  - how a buddy and a new hire would meet and what would be the mechanics  of the program. We have identiﬁed one major risk - what if no one wants to be  a buddy? what if no one volunteers?  We needed to test the program on a smaller scale: for 1 location, 1 legal  entity and 1 month (1 round of new hires), to see if our assumptions will be  validated and learn what works well and what does not.  Learning goals:  a) if we ask employees to volunteer to become a buddy, we will have enough

volunteers to cover all new hires in a given month (around 20 new joiners  were expected. No rewarding scheme offered, just positive motivation and  an opportunity to meet new people).

b) we will brief volunteers on what it means to be a great buddy and what is

expected from them. After this session, 80% of volunteers will be still  engaged and ready to be a buddy. Buddies will be happy to do this which  will result with high satisfaction scores after 1 month with new hires  (metric: satisfaction 1-5, targeted the average of 4). They will also agree  to participate again.

c) we will ask new hires to evaluate the program after 1 month (success  metrics: every new hire has a buddy; positive NPS score)

d) we will test if it matters that buddy comes from a different team (metrics:

NPS from new hires, qualitative feedback from hiring managers).

APPLICATION:

We selected one test legal entity with sufﬁcient number of new hires  expected. We launched a simple communication campaign, one email and  one intranet page banner, asking employees to volunteer and join the  program. We also informed them that this is an experimental program, so we  will be asking them for feedback frequently, to learn what works well and what  doesn’t.  a) In the ﬁrst week, 22 employees volunteered (out of 200 targeted

population) vs expected 18 new hires.

b) Brieﬁng session for future buddies resulted with positive feedback and

high satisfaction scores. Buddies told us that they know what is expected  from them (100% responded “we are ready” via a short survey). We sent  them the list of new hires and asked to assign themselves and reach out  to the new hire offering guidance.

c) Within a week, all new hires had a buddy. After 1 month we sent them a  quick survey asking how they would evaluate that experience and which  aspects of the Buddy support is most appreciated. We got new learnings  in: it is really important that buddies make time to be available for  questions and have informal chats over a coffee/lunch. The NPS score  was 50+. We also asked buddies if they would like to continue  volunteering and all said “Yes” except for 1 person who was leaving the  company.

d) New hires did not mention anything around the need for technical or

functional knowledge as their expectation towards the buddy. We  interviewed 15 hiring managers and they said that they see a great value  of a buddy being from a different team, because they can increase new  hires network from early days.

Overall, we validated, that volunteer-based program could work. We ran  second sprint (months 2 for a batch of 7 new hires) to ﬁne-tune certain  elements and collect more insights.

INSIGHT: Thanks to the learning launch we we able to: - simulate the ﬂow of the program, deﬁne key roles and investment needed

- identify success factors for the program to work (like the need to explain to

buddies what is their role and empower them, the pool of volunteers needs  to be monitored and constantly sourced)

- identify core metrics (like satisfaction and NPS from buddies, NPS from

new hires)

- convince our key stakeholders that such program could work, based on

data and insights

- we concluded that volunteering could be perceived differently in various

cultural contexts, so we recommended other afﬁliates to use testing  approach before the full launch to validate

- today Buddy program is offered as a ready-to-deploy product to multiple

markets. We have also set-up a globally aligned listening approach for  NPS scores across the new hire journey.

APPROACH (conclusion) Learning launch is deﬁnitely a way to go in a multinational company, before  designing global programs, policies, systems with big investment required. To  test any product on a smaller scale to learn in relatively safe set-up, where  you can fail faster, without burning money.  For me it was great to see how simple it is to apply when you have a small  team of people focused on the “question” and constantly looking for data and  insights to validate / invalidate and not debating opinions. Right mindset and  teamwork are key.


Testing the Buddy Program ( Human Resources ) Tool : learning launch Author : Natalya Kotov March 22 , 2020 CHALLENGE I work in HR for a big multinational . Over past few months we have been deep diving into employee experience of new hires . After interviewing tens of new joiners across several countries and conducting journey mapping sessions with them , we have identiﬁed a recurring pain point . Most of new hires did not have a buddy ( guide ) to support them during their initial weeks . What was missing is someone available to answer their questions , introduce to other people , show around the ofﬁce , describe company culture . New hires were highlighting the social aspect more than a need for a speciﬁc technical onboarding . Despite the support from their hiring managers , formal induction programs and team lunches , the problem was clear : new hires felt unsupported . SELECTION To tackle this problem , a team of 5 HR professionals from different streams was formed . I was the project leader . During our ideation session we came up with a volunteer - based Buddy program . We draw how the ﬂow would look like - how a buddy and a new hire would meet and what would be the mechanics of the program . We have identiﬁed one major risk - what if no one wants to be a buddy ? what if no one volunteers ? We needed to test the program on a smaller scale : for 1 location , 1 legal entity and 1 month ( 1 round of new hires ) , to see if our assumptions will be validated and learn what works well and what does not . Learning goals : a ) if we ask employees to volunteer to become a buddy , we will have enough volunteers to cover all new hires in a given month ( around 20 new joiners were expected . No rewarding scheme offered , just positive motivation and an opportunity to meet new people ) . b ) we will brief volunteers on what it means to be a great buddy and what is expected from them . After this session , 80 % of volunteers will be still engaged and ready to be a buddy . Buddies will be happy to do this which will result with high satisfaction scores after 1 month with new hires ( metric : satisfaction 1 - 5 , targeted the average of 4 ) . They will also agree to participate again . c ) we will ask new hires to evaluate the program after 1 month ( success metrics : every new hire has a buddy ; positive NPS score ) d ) we will test if it matters that buddy comes from a different team ( metrics : NPS from new hires , qualitative feedback from hiring managers ) . APPLICATION : We selected one test legal entity with sufﬁcient number of new hires expected . We launched a simple communication campaign , one email and one intranet page banner , asking employees to volunteer and join the program . We also informed them that this is an experimental program , so we will be asking them for feedback frequently , to learn what works well and what does n’t . a ) In the ﬁrst week , 22 employees volunteered ( out of 200 targeted population ) vs expected 18 new hires . b ) Brieﬁng session for future buddies resulted with positive feedback and high satisfaction scores . Buddies told us that they know what is expected from them ( 100 % responded “ we are ready ” via a short survey ) . We sent them the list of new hires and asked to assign themselves and reach out to the new hire offering guidance . c ) Within a week , all new hires had a buddy . After 1 month we sent them a quick survey asking how they would evaluate that experience and which aspects of the Buddy support is most appreciated . We got new learnings in : it is really important that buddies make time to be available for questions and have informal chats over a coffee / lunch . The NPS score was 50 + . We also asked buddies if they would like to continue volunteering and all said “ Yes ” except for 1 person who was leaving the company . d ) New hires did not mention anything around the need for technical or functional knowledge as their expectation towards the buddy . We interviewed 15 hiring managers and they said that they see a great value of a buddy being from a different team , because they can increase new hires network from early days . Overall , we validated , that volunteer - based program could work . We ran second sprint ( months 2 for a batch of 7 new hires ) to ﬁne - tune certain elements and collect more insights . INSIGHT : Thanks to the learning launch we we able to : - simulate the ﬂow of the program , deﬁne key roles and investment needed - identify success factors for the program to work ( like the need to explain to buddies what is their role and empower them , the pool of volunteers needs to be monitored and constantly sourced ) - identify core metrics ( like satisfaction and NPS from buddies , NPS from new hires ) - convince our key stakeholders that such program could work , based on data and insights - we concluded that volunteering could be perceived differently in various cultural contexts , so we recommended other afﬁliates to use testing approach before the full launch to validate - today Buddy program is offered as a ready - to - deploy product to multiple markets . We have also set - up a globally aligned listening approach for NPS scores across the new hire journey . APPROACH ( conclusion ) Learning launch is deﬁnitely a way to go in a multinational company , before designing global programs , policies , systems with big investment required . To test any product on a smaller scale to learn in relatively safe set - up , where you can fail faster , without burning money . For me it was great to see how simple it is to apply when you have a small team of people focused on the “ question ” and constantly looking for data and insights to validate / invalidate and not debating opinions . Right mindset and teamwork are key .