How to Set Up a Mentor/Buddy Program for New Employees: Seeking Advice on Roles and Training

I am seeking advice and information on setting up and running a mentor/buddy scheme to support new employees when they start.

Role of Mentors
What should these mentors do or not do? Who can they be, and who can't they be?

Skills and Training for Mentors
Additionally, what skills and training do they need?

Hi, I have worked for a call center for some time, and they had developed a very effective mentoring/buddy system. After the completion of training, the employee was placed as a buddy to a more experienced colleague. The role of the mentor was to help the new employee understand what to do in tight situations and to develop a general feel for the job. The new employee would generally buddy with the mentor for about 4-5 days. The first two days, he/she would just listen to calls; on the third day, they would have to discuss the call, and the last two days, they would take a few calls and then discuss.

The reason for this example is to state that if developing a mentoring program, it's probably a good idea to buddy the new employee with someone not that superior to the person in concern. This would help in general bonding with the company and will boost fellowship. Also, making sure that the person mentoring the new employee takes him on as a fellow and not a burden (which is common). So probably it would be wise to choose the mentors carefully.

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Sid

CiteHR Team Member

They should be employees with good people skills. They should not be line managers. Fairly recent recruits are more likely to empathize with what the new employee is going through, so someone who joined the year before might be appropriate. The research into mentoring schemes suggests that informal schemes work at least as well, if not better, than formal schemes (Clutterbuck is the expert on mentoring). The benefit will come if there is a rapport between the pair. If not, then questions will not be asked, people will be too busy, and the relationship will not be of value.

Regards, Col
http://colbrown.co.uk

Just curious... Are employees who are chosen to be mentors given some sort of extra pay, or is it purely voluntary?

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A buddy/mentor is a fantastic idea. I too have mentioned that to my superior. My department is trying to update training, etc. How did you implement that? Did you write a proposal? I too work in a call center environment.