Top Mentoring Program FAQ

We’ve found that people involved with running mentoring programs at their organization tend to have a lot of the same frequently asked questions about mentoring.

Take a look below:

How can I qualify mentors? 
Firstly, let them self-assess out as necessary, by letting all your potential mentors know upfront exactly what they’re signing up for. Even if recruiting mentors is a pain point for you, you only want the right mentors in your program. Second, ensure that the remaining mentor pool have the knowledge the mentees need, as well as the coaching, communication, and interpersonal skills required. (Learn more about  mentor training.)


How can I measure mentoring?
This depends on your program goals. What are your specific business objectives? If it’s improving a learning curve for a targeted group, you can identify savings in speed to productivity. If it’s to decrease your training budget, you can show the difference between old training budget and new mentoring budget in light of learning targets achieved through mentoring. If it’s succession planning, you can tie it to people moving up in the organization and their learning goals.

These are just a few examples. Rest assured, though, that if you have defined objectives, you can  measure your mentoring program’s success. (Tip:  mentoring software  can make this easier to track and report on if you're feeling overwhelmed.)


How can I assess mentors and mentees? 
Look at mentors and mentees using both qualitative and quantitative measurements. For an example of quantitative mentoring measurements, did your mentors and mentees meet their objectives for the mentoring partnership? Or if your program cycles, are any particular mentors chosen as a mentor over and over again? For an example of  qualitative mentoring measurements, look at feedback surveys. For example, how did the mentee’s manager, coworkers, and team members see that the mentee developed?

Again, if you have defined objectives, you can measure your mentors and mentees.


How can I get buy in from management or leadership to obtain or maintain funding? 
Make sure your mentoring program is not seen as an expendable program. The adage goes that you have to make yourself irreplaceable in order to have complete job security; and the same logic applies here. Mentoring is a business strategy, not a warm fuzzy feel good program. It’s there and formalized to solve specific and targeted business pains. Present your case in light of those pains and how you’re going to resolve them, and that’s your strategy to get buy in for your mentoring program.

Learn about how you can measure your mentoring program with mentoring software.