Practice knowledge base
Mentoring and buddy (guidance)
A mentor or buddy helps an employee understand their role, unwritten rules, and development steps more quickly through regular work conversations.
Documentation sections
What it is
Mentoring connects a less experienced employee with someone who has already handled similar tasks and can share practical knowledge. A buddy more often helps at the start: explains processes, introduces people, and reduces uncertainty in the first weeks. This practice works best when the pair has a clear goal, regular contact, and the manager’s support.
When it helps
- Newcomers spend a long time looking for answers and depend on occasional help from colleagues.
- Employees do not understand which skills they need for the next step in their role.
- Strong specialists accumulate knowledge but rarely pass it on to others.
- After moving to a new team, it is hard for a person to understand the unwritten rules of work.
- The manager does not have time to personally support each employee’s development.
How to start
- 1 Choose one group of participants: newcomers, new leads, or employees with a clear growth request.
- 2 Assign mentors from among people who are ready to help regularly and can explain work decisions clearly.
- 3 Agree on the pair’s goal: adaptation, developing a specific skill, preparing for a new role, or discussing work situations.
- 4 Set a simple rhythm: a short meeting, a list of topics, and a place where participants record agreements.
- 5 After a few meetings, check whether the employee has fewer open questions and whether the next development step has become clearer.
Expected effect
The team passes on tacit knowledge faster: the employee knows who to go to with questions, gets less lost in the rules, and takes on new tasks more confidently. The manager gets an additional channel to support development without replacing their own responsibility.
Common pitfalls
- Assign a mentor formally and do not set aside time for conversations.
- Mix the buddy role with performance evaluation: the employee stops asking honest questions.
- Match the pair based only on job title without checking readiness and communication style.
- Leave the program without a goal: meetings turn into random conversations.
- Shift decisions to the mentor that the manager should make.
Further reading
- Book: Lois J. Zachary, The Mentor's Guide
- Book: W. Brad Johnson, On Being a Mentor
- Research: Tammy D. Allen et al., Career Benefits Associated With Mentoring for Protégés
FAQ
Who should own this practice?
HR or the manager can set up the rules, but day-to-day responsibility remains with the team manager: they choose participants, connect mentoring to role tasks, and check whether the pair is helping the employee move forward.
How is a buddy different from a mentor?
A buddy usually helps a person settle into the team quickly: processes, people, rules, and everyday questions. A mentor more often works on skill development, career decisions, and discussing difficult work situations.
Can you start without a separate program?
Yes. It is enough to choose a few pairs, agree on a goal and a meeting rhythm, and then after a short cycle check which questions have been resolved and what needs to be changed in the format.
How can you tell whether the practice is working?
Look at work signs: the employee finds the right people faster, asks more precise questions, gets blocked less often in typical situations, and can name the next development step.