Mentoring Metrics

Mentoring won't solve every problem. Where will it make a difference? And, what do you measure to know that it works?

Mentoring is employed by organizations to achieve strategic objectives. Individuals benefit from mentoring. But from the outset, it is important to understand what may and may not be expected from mentoring. Having realistic expectations, clear goals and ways to identify the extent to which they are attained is critical.

Reasons for Mentoring

Organisations

• Recruitment
• Retention
• Developing people
• Knowledge management/transfer
• Improved productivity
• Succession planning

Individuals

• Career planning
• Professional development
• Personalised learning
• Personal growth

While individuals quickly experience personal benefits from mentoring, tangible outcomes take time to emerge.

Some results, such as retention, are easy for an organization to evaluate but may be influenced by factors other than mentoring.

For organizations and individuals the process is the same:

• Determine why you want mentoring - the difference do you want it to make;
• Decide if mentoring can deliver these results; and
• Identify what you could measure, before and after mentoring to indicate outcomes.