Pyn + Buddy Programs
Pyn's buddy program feature automatically prompts managers to select a buddy for each new hire, notifies the person selected, and delivers the right context to both without HR coordinating any of it manually.
A buddy program that doesn’t require a spreadsheet.
Pyn automates the full buddy pairing process — prompting the manager to choose a buddy, notifying the person selected, and delivering the right context to both — so every new hire gets a buddy without HR having to coordinate it manually every time.
Microsoft research found that new hires who met with their buddy at least twice in their first 90 days were 73% more likely to feel they ramped up quickly — and that having a buddy led to a 36% increase in satisfaction with the onboarding experience. The program works. The hard part is running it consistently, at scale, without it becoming another thing HR has to chase.
What it is
Pyn’s buddy feature runs two automations from a single trigger. The manager of the incoming new hire gets a message asking them to select a buddy from a list of current employees. Once they choose, the selected employee gets a notification automatically — along with context about the new hire and what the buddy role involves. HR sets it up once. Pyn runs it for every new hire from there.
What you can do with it
Pair every new hire with a buddy before day one
When a new hire’s start date is confirmed in your HRIS, Pyn sends their manager a prompt — via Slack or email — to select a buddy from a dropdown list of employees. The list flags anyone who has recently been a buddy, so managers can spread the responsibility rather than defaulting to the same people. Once the manager makes a selection, the buddy receives a Pyn automatically: who they’ve been paired with, when the new hire starts, and what’s expected of them in the first few weeks.
Run different buddy programs for different roles
A new sales hire has different needs from a new engineer. Using conditional logic in Pyn Flows, you can route new hires into role-specific buddy pairings — so the prompt the manager receives, and the context the buddy gets, reflects the actual role rather than a generic onboarding template. The same automation handles the routing automatically based on department or role data from your HRIS.
Extend buddy pairings beyond new hire onboarding
The same pairing mechanic works for other lifecycle moments where a buddy or peer connection adds value — new manager transitions, role changes, or return-from-leave onboarding. Build a separate Flow for each moment, using the same buddy automation steps, and the right pairing happens at the right time without any additional coordination from HR.
How to set it up
Buddy programs in Pyn use two automations: one that prompts the manager to select a buddy, and one that notifies the employee who is selected. If you’re still designing your buddy program from scratch, How to build an onboarding buddy program covers everything from defining responsibilities to running a feedback loop at the end.
To schedule everything for the year, and know it'll go out. It's been huge.
Claire B., People Operations at Rhino
To turn off Pyn would feel like going back to the Middle Ages.
VP People, Koala
FAQs
Managers see all current employees in the dropdown. Anyone who has recently been selected as a buddy has a flag next to their name, so managers have visibility into who’s already carrying that responsibility. You can also configure the message to include suggested criteria for a good buddy — role familiarity, tenure, availability.
If the buddy selection message is sent via email and no buddy is selected, Pyn handles the fallback gracefully — the Selected as a Buddy Automation simply won’t fire. You can configure a reminder to the manager if no selection is made within a set timeframe.
Yes. The buddy selection and notification both happen through Slack or email, so location doesn’t affect how the feature works. For distributed teams, the buddy introduction is often even more important — it gives the new hire a named point of contact before they’ve had a chance to meet anyone organically.
Yes. Most teams connect their HRIS — which provides the employee data that determines when Flows trigger — and their Slack or Microsoft Teams connection for message delivery.
See our pricing page for current plans and details.
