Ann Rolfe's Mentoring Works Blog: Measure Mentoring -- You Can’t Measure Everything But You Better Measure Something!

With ever-increasing demands on resources, it is critical that mentoring is shown to have a positive impact on the organization that invests in it and the people involved.

Yet, evaluating mentoring only captures the tip of the iceberg, what is visible above the surface. Perhaps as much as 9/10^th of the value of mentoring may remain unseen because some outcomes are subtle or intangible, they may be very long-term, remain unknown or unconscious.

However, without evaluation your mentoring program is likely to wither and die. It will be pre-empted by new demands and other priorities. Budget will dry up and people won’t have time. Show that mentoring makes a difference. Demonstrate the value-add. Prove that not doing it will cost dearly and make mentoring thrive.

If you have committed to mentoring, you need to know:

1. How effective the mentoring program is;

2. Just what people are getting out of it; and

3. Whether there are ways to improve.

Program Effectiveness

You need to figure out right from the beginning what you expect mentoring to achieve. Why is mentoring seen as necessary? How will it benefit individuals and the organization? Solid reasons, that link to corporate strategy and personal benefits need to be identified. Success indicators, quantifiable measures and qualitative feedback are necessary. It won’t be possible to tie everything down to return on investment (ROI) but you can certainly describe how mentoring adds value … if you plan and implement a credible evaluation process.

Benefits and Outcomes

Whether you use sophisticated metrics or simply ask people, find out what people are getting out of mentoring. You can collect two types of data: quantitative and qualitative. Look for every opportunity to count in numbers, the outcomes of mentoring. Before and after measures examples include:

· Retention;

· Completion of a course;

· Return to work after maternity leave or injury

· Job applications

· Promotions

You can gather people’s opinions through surveys and you can turn some of that into quantitative data by using rating scales, ranking, semantic differentials etc. You can interview people using a set of questions and options that you can quantify or run focus groups. If you’ve planned and implemented it well, I guarantee you’ll be surprised at the results of mentoring when you take the trouble to ask people.

Continuous Improvement

One of my clients runs a highly valued mentoring program. We have always sought out and acted upon the feedback from participants. We also take into account the changing needs of the organization. This means that we’ve redesigned the program three times in the last eight years. The program enables graduates to select mentors for career and professional development. We educate participants about intergenerational and personality issues, multiple intelligences and communication styles as well as the mentoring framework we’ve always offered. In my opinion, despite limited resources and a challenging environment, this year we’ve created the best program ever. Evaluating a good program and making adjustments has meant that the program continues to provide significant benefits year after year rather than fading away.

I am still shocked that so many organisations are willing to spend on a strategy aimed at producing outcomes without checking if they get a return on investment. Evaluate, and know that mentoring works!

Ann Rolfe is the founder of Mentoring Works, with twenty-five years experience in learning and development and sixteen years specializing in mentoring.

Ann Rolfe has been instrumental is setting up mentoring programs and training people in fields as diverse as health, construction, energy, communications, law and government. She has spoken at national and international conferences in Australia, Singapore and USA.

Mentoring is all about producing better outcomes for individuals and organisations. So, if you want to ensure that yours does, get your Evaluation ebook/webinar combo here right now.

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