A new-starter buddy can help a person find everyday information and ask practical questions during their first period at work. Define that peer role clearly so it supports induction without replacing the manager, trainer or authorised decision-maker.
A friendly colleague is not automatically responsible for supervision, safety instruction, payroll answers or resolving complaints. The new starter needs to know which contact handles each kind of question.
Choose a buddy with capacity and relevant knowledge
Ask whether the person understands the workplace’s current processes and has time to provide support. Consider work location, shift overlap, communication preferences and whether a backup contact is needed.
Explain the role before asking someone to accept it. Do not add an undefined support responsibility to a full workload and assume goodwill will cover the time required.
Business Queensland’s staff development and mentoring guidance provides broader context for workplace learning support. A buddy arrangement should have its own limited purpose rather than being presented as formal assessment or an employment guarantee.
Prepare a practical buddy brief
Include:
- Purpose: the practical support the buddy is expected to provide.
- Activities: introductions, locating approved information and routine check-ins.
- Limits: matters requiring a manager, trainer or specialist contact.
- Availability: suitable times and a backup when the buddy is absent.
- Privacy: information that should not be requested or shared.
- Escalation: how unresolved or urgent questions reach the right person.
- Review: when the new starter and manager will check the arrangement.
Keep the brief short enough to use. Provide the same explanation to the new starter so expectations do not depend on informal assumptions.
A fictional first-week exchange
In this original invented example, a new office employee asks their buddy where the current leave-request instructions are stored. The buddy helps them locate the approved information and identifies the manager who handles the request.
When the employee asks whether a particular absence will be approved, the buddy explains that the decision belongs to the appropriate manager. They do not promise an outcome or ask the employee to disclose private circumstances unnecessarily.
The arrangement has helped the person navigate the workplace while preserving the correct decision pathway.
Keep required training and supervision explicit
Schedule the actual induction and task instruction through the responsible people. A buddy showing someone around does not prove that required training, understanding or authorisation has been completed. For someone building their first workplace experience, our work-experience guide offers context for identifying learning opportunities; the buddy should still direct task training and authorisation questions to the responsible supervisor.
WorkSafe Queensland’s training and supervision guidance explains the importance of suitable information, training and supervision. Check the actual work requirements rather than relying on a buddy’s availability as the safety arrangement.
Give both people a clear way to report a concern or say that the match is not working. A change of buddy need not become a judgment about either person’s character.
Review and close the arrangement
Ask whether the new starter can find current information, knows the relevant contacts and has any unresolved questions. Check the buddy’s workload and acknowledge the time spent supporting the arrangement.
Agree when routine buddy check-ins end or become less frequent. Keep manager support available afterwards. A useful buddy arrangement leaves the new employee better connected to the workplace’s real processes, rather than dependent on one colleague as an unofficial source of every answer.
