Mentoring programs are becoming more commonplace within modern organizations—with the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies boasting mentorship opportunities. However, the importance of measuring mentoring programs, particularly in tracking progress towards goals and assessing the return on investment (ROI), often doesn’t get talked about. 

We know that most corporate mentorship programs are built with the best of intentions—whether it’s to create opportunities for employees or to build employee engagement. However, good intentions alone aren’t necessarily enough to drive a successful mentoring program. Without a firm grasp of what makes a successful program and the metrics that drive it, companies likely aren’t making the most of their mentoring initiatives.

Keep reading as we discuss how your company can build a strategic mentorship program—with the success metrics to prove it.

Table of Contents

1. What makes a successful mentoring program?
2. 5 KPIs for mentoring programs
3. The importance of mentorship program goals
4. How to measure and track mentoring program success 

What makes a successful mentoring program?

Having any mentoring program is a good start, but having a strategic mentoring program is always going to be more successful, with benefits for both employees and the business.  Of course, you can always measure metrics and KPIs post-program. But what are some signs that your mentoring program is set up for success from the get-go?

• You have a defined goal and purpose. It’s impossible to reach a goal if you never clearly define the goal to begin with. Mentorship program goals and objectives help you stay on track and evaluate progress.

“Anything that's left to an accident in business usually doesn't work. And so sometimes when we're doing these [mentorship] programs internally, people will say, “oh, let's just have it be leader led, or, let's let it be organic.” And I say to them, in what universe do we launch a strategic initiative and say, we're going to let it be an accident? So I would just kind of say, for those of us that care about talent development, care about inclusion, we need a strategic framework. We need measurement.” - David Simmonds, SVP, Global Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer at Canada Life

• You have clear metrics: Whether that’s improving diversity, retention, employee engagement or beyond, a successful mentorship program should have measurable metrics that tie back to your goals.

• You have buy-in from key stakeholders: If leaders and executives aren’t fully committed to your mentorship program, it can be challenging to get the rest of the organization to participate effectively.

• You have resources in place to support your program: Whether that’s a dedicated program manager or the right mentorship software, a successful program needs resources to help administer mentorship at scale.

5 KPIs for mentoring programs

Like most business objectives, it’s also important to look at the quantitative metrics that demonstrate ROI in a mentorship program.

Say goodbye to guesswork, and gather all the insights you need: Check out 10KC's Data Dashboard. 

The reality is that highly successful mentorship programs require commitment—not only from program managers but mentors and mentees as well. Establishing clear and objective metrics can help you effectively communicate value to stakeholders and senior leaders. When the return on mentorship isn’t clear, it’s easy for it to get deprioritized, which can negate any benefits.

Here are a few important KPIs you can track for mentoring programs:

1. Employee retention

When you retain top talent, teams benefit from enhanced institutional knowledge, increased productivity and overall better employee morale. 

A corporate mentorship program can have a significant impact on supporting employee retention. According to 10KC research, since the COVID-19 pandemic, employee connectivity has become a bigger challenge. And 62% of employees would leave their companies for more mentorship, development, and connectivity opportunities. 

93% of organizations share a concern about retention. The great news is that retention rates are proven to be significantly higher for mentees (72%) and mentors (69%), compared to just 49% for employees who did not participate in a mentoring program.

“The labor market is really challenging. And for really strong talent and specialized talent, they can get what you're offering in many organizations. But if they have a really deep sense of connection and belonging in the company that you work for, that's what's going to hold them.” - Manisha Burman, EVP and CHRO, CI Financial

Here are some ways to understand the impact of mentorship programs on employee retention:

• Turnover rates: Compare turnover rates or employee retention among program participants and non-participants to understand the impact. 

• Change in retention rates: Alternatively, a boost in employee retention after implementing a mentorship program can show a positive correlation between the two.

Read more: 10KC Innovator: Spring Health and Michelle Rojas Improve Employee Retention with Mentorship

2. Employee promotion rates

Employee growth and advancement are the cornerstone of corporate mentorship programs. Not only does it boost the employee experience by providing additional growth opportunities, but it enables companies to build robust internal talent pipelines and identify future leaders.

Here are a couple ways to track changes in employee promotion in a mentorship program: 

• Internal promotion rates: Mentoring programs can often increase the number of internal promotions over a given period of time, compared to the number of people in the organization.

• Time-to-promote: Successful mentorship programs can help shorten the time it takes to promote individuals within the organization.

Keep in mind that not all companies, role types, and departments are the same when it comes to promotion rates. For instance, a sales team at a growing organization might have more leadership opportunities available than the customer success team at a larger and more stable company with fewer internal mobility opportunities. So, be sure to use relevant benchmarks when reviewing promotion rates.

3. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

As DEI initiatives continue to top organizational priority lists, corporate mentorship programs are one of the most effective ways to support them. Ideally, mentorship can be used as a springboard for underrepresented employees to take on future leadership positions. And over time, they’ll go on to act as mentors themselves.‍

Here are some metrics that can point to mentorship influencing DEI in the workplace:

• Leadership diversity rates: Look for an increase in the percentage of diverse-identifying employees in senior leadership and managerial roles.

• Rates of engagement and belonging: A successful mentorship program should foster higher rates of engagement and belonging among diverse, underrepresented employees, as well as across the overall organization. A shift in belonging across the organization can be a sign that employees feel a sense of purpose and inclusion in the workplace.

• Promotion rates in diverse employees: An increase in promotion rates in underrepresented employee groups can point to an increase in DEI within your company.

4. Employee satisfaction 

Mentorship programs foster connection and belonging in teams—which can be tied to employee happiness and loyalty. Higher rates of workplace belonging have been linked to a 167% increase in employee net promoter scores.

While satisfaction is often subjective, there are a few metrics we can use to identify changes in employee satisfaction:

• Employee satisfaction index (ESI): This metric is made up of three questions about an employee’s workplace that are used to calculate an ESI percentage. 

• Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): eNPS is a measure of how likely an employee is to recommend their employer to someone else, which can often be tied to happier employees.

While these metrics are helpful, it’s important to recognize that understanding employee satisfaction often requires stepping back and looking at your overall employee metrics. For example, increases in employee engagement, retention, and even productivity can be signs that your employee satisfaction is trending in the right direction. 

Read more: How To Build a Virtual Mentoring Program for Hybrid Work Environments

5. Participation rates

Another way to evaluate success in your mentoring program is by looking at the number of employees who want to participate. As employees see their peers getting value from mentoring, they’re more likely to raise their hand to join. And the more employees who participate in your mentorship program, the more employees who’ll reap the rewards of mentoring.

Some participation metrics you can look at include:

• Sign-up rate: Percentage of total employees who sign up for your mentorship program.

• Program completion rate: Determine how many mentors and mentees complete the full program or meet all the program requirements. If you’re seeing a significant drop-off, it’s likely that employees are struggling to keep up with the program or aren’t getting value out of it.

The importance of mentorship program goals

Goals provide a clear direction for your mentorship program. It's evident that without a well-defined understanding of the desired outcomes, assigning metrics or tactics to achieve these goals becomes challenging.

Outlining clear goals should be a primary step in developing a mentorship program. To enhance the likelihood of success, consider employing a recognized goal-setting method like SMART goals. SMART mentorship program goals are designed to be: 

• Specific: They outline the actions and things that will be accomplished.
• Measurable: There is a quantifiable KPI or metric that you can track. 
• Achievable: They are feasible with the resources and timeline you’ve outlined.
• Relevant: They should align with your organization’s higher-level objectives.
• Time-bound: There is an end date for when you expect to achieve your goal.

By setting SMART goals, you can create a structured and effective framework for your mentorship program, facilitating better planning, implementation, and evaluation.

3 examples of SMART mentorship program goals

Here are 3 examples of mentorship program goals using the SMART goal-setting method that you can use to guide your own mentorship program goals.

1. By promoting our mentorship program internally, we will improve participation rates and reach 100 mentorship program participants within the next 6 months.
2. Over the next 12 months, we will increase our employee retention rate by 10% by fostering employee belonging through a corporate mentorship program.
3. Through a DEI mentorship program, we will increase the percentage of diverse employees in managerial roles by 10% in the next 2 years.

How to measure and track mentoring program success 

Once you have goals and metrics, the next step is to track them. Here are some tips and best practices to improve how you’re measuring and tracking your corporate mentorship program’s success.

1. Monitor progress along the way

It’s not enough to wait and measure progress at the end of your program. When you don’t track and monitor your progress along the way, you’ll likely miss valuable insights and opportunities to maximize the impact of your mentoring programs.

You can monitor progress in a variety of ways. For example, you might be able to review metrics by looking at trends in organizational HR data, such as turnover rates and employee advancement. You can also check in on qualitative improvements by sending out regular surveys and collecting feedback on individual mentoring sessions.

“I really wanted to see the impact of a program like this on promotion rates, specifically of underrepresented talent. On a monthly basis, I share workforce data with the 10KC team for them to analyze and synthesize that impact, and reshare it with me.” - Michelle Rojas, Associate Director of DEI at Spring Health

Say goodbye to guesswork, and gather all the insights you need: Check out 10KC's Data Dashboard. 

2. Set individual mentor and mentee goals (and track their progress)

Mentees and mentors are at the heart of every mentoring program. One of the best indicators of success of a corporate mentorship program is that participants are achieving their goals.

In addition to setting your overall business goals, mentors and mentees should be setting individual goals that they’re working towards. That way, participants aren’t just meeting to share small talk; they’re taking steps to reach their objectives. It’s important to set goals at the beginning of the program, so you—and your participants—can track progress along the way.

Throughout the program, there should be structured opportunities for participants to check in and update program managers on their progress and achievements. For example, you can automate surveys on a monthly or quarterly basis, depending on the length of the program.

If participants are on track to reach their goals, you can take it as a sign of program success. If not, then it’s probably time to dig in further and find out what isn’t working.

3. Gather participant feedback

Quantitative metrics are important, but they only tell part of the story. Your people will always be your most valuable source of information, which is why you should rely on qualitative feedback from participants to get a sense of what is working and what needs to be iterated on for future programs. 

Some questions you can ask in a survey to gather feedback:

• Was there anything you would improve about your mentoring experience?
• Would you recommend the mentorship program to someone else?
• Do you feel like you are getting value from your mentoring experience?

As with many organizational surveys, keeping it anonymous can help you get more open and honest communication from participants who may otherwise be nervous to provide any negative feedback.

“Build around your team members. Make sure that this is something that they want and need. I think oftentimes HR departments tend to implement programs just because it's what's done. The “let's just do it because that's what we do” mentality just doesn’t work for the ever-evolving needs of today’s workplaces.” - Michelle Rojas, Associate Director of DEI at Spring Health

4. Don’t forget about program advocacy 

Similar to employee loyalty that can be measured through eNPS, a good mentorship program should be something that existing participants want to promote to their peers. As your mentorship program grows, advocacy should scale in lockstep. 

If participants aren’t willing to advocate for your mentoring program, it’s a sign that they’re not deriving enough value or they’re failing to reach their own goals. Both of which are marks of an ineffective mentorship program.

If program advocacy is lagging, it might be time to go back to the drawing board and identify opportunities to refine your program to ensure mentors and mentees are making the most of their mentorship experience. 

5. Use a corporate mentorship software to track KPIs 

Bringing a successful mentoring program to life can be complex, especially if you’re trying to scale things manually. Thankfully, there are tools available to help streamline program management, enhancing overall impact. 

10KC is an all-in-one mentoring platform specifically designed to help companies build, scale, and measure successful corporate mentorship programs that drive better employee engagement and retention. We’ve helped 200+ companies reach mentoring success through many features, including:

• Automated matches at scale: Pair mentors and mentees based on their goals and interests in just a few clicks.

• Pre-built templates and development programs: Take the guesswork out of mentorship with structured curriculums and discussion guides tailored to your business goals.

• Data dashboards and reporting: Track KPIs and metrics that matter, so you know you’re on track to reach your mentorship goals. Plus, take advantage of automated surveys to gather employee feedback in real time.