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204 Retaining Top Employees

who’s out, who best to approach with a certain problem, why
certain things are done in certain ways.
The relationship can begin one-way and then, after the initial
period, become more two-way, as each “buddy” is looking out
for the other, providing shift or other cover, and generally taking
responsibility for the other’s welfare.
If there are safety issues in your business, for example, you
may wish to have a continuing buddy program for all your
employees, so they can watch out for each other. The relation-
ship can be two-way from the outset. You may also want to run
a “buddy” program as an adjunct to your mentoring program,
especially for new hires.
A properly implemented buddy program is simple to con-
struct and manage and it can be a real boon to you as a man-
ager by taking away from the relationship with your key
employees much of the less important, time-consuming “trivia”
of the daily workload, leaving you to concentrate on higher-
level, more strategic communications.
There are circumstances in which everyone needs a
buddy—formally or not. The checklist will help you decide if
you should incorporate a buddy program into your mentoring
activities.

Do You Need a Buddy Program?
Here’s a checklist of the circumstances in which you should consider
implementing a buddy program.
• Where your new hires (or job changers) need to know how to use
equipment or technology,but there’s little or no formal on-the-job
training.
• Where you do on-the-job training,but a period of assisted practical
application is required to convert the training to acquired skills.
• Where access to necessary equipment or technology is restricted
and needs to be shared or “hot-desked.”
• Where new hires or job changers need to assimilate new policies
or vocabulary in a short time.
• Where new hires are clogging up your HR department with routine
inquiries.