Evaluation

Partnership and Program Evaluation
Common Monitoring Activities

• Plan on regular checkpoints at key intervals. The four recommended checkpoints and intervals for a program of one-year’s duration are:
  • Due date of the Partnership Agreement or Learning Plan
  • After the first 90 days from the Partnership start date
  • After the first 6 months — the mid-point for most programs
  • At the 11 to 12 month period — the end of a program cycle

• Add additional events to bring the Mentoring pairs together:
  • Quarterly forums
  • Brown bag luncheons
  • Corporate sponsored events

These events serve as continual reinforcement of the commitments of the mentoring pairs.

Data Gathering Techniques

The data gathered at the above-mentioned checkpoints is typically obtained by a few simple methods.  These include:

• Self-report methods
  • Interviews — personal or telephone
  • focus groups
  • written questionnaires

• Mentor partner observations and ratings
• Third-party behavioral observation using the organizational or job    competencies as a measure

In many data gathering projects, a partial response rate from the target audience of over 55% is seen as acceptable, satisfactory and effective. In evaluating the success of a Mentoring program, this is not good enough. Each measurement activity must shoot for total coverage of all enrollees, especially in the pilot phase of an initiative.  Follow-up telephone calls, e-mails, and letters typically raise the level of response.

Measures Used to Quantify Success

• Completion rates of the matched pairs
  • Satisfaction with the match
  • Desire to continue the match

What the measure shows: Success rates could either exceed, match or fall short of the expected completion

• Time the pairs spent together
  • Frequency of meetings
  • Relevancy of discussion topics

What the measure shows: Credibility of the self-reports and ratings of the partners

• Attendance at, and participation in essential program sponsored events:
  • Orientation sessions
  • Training-forums
  • Follow-up sessions
  • Evaluation checkpoints

What the measure shows: Commitment to the program and its process

• Achievement of the pair’s learning objectives
  • Completing a Partnership Agreement or Learning Plan
  • Keeping meeting commitments

What the measure shows: Results achieved through partners’ commitment to deliverables

• Company-specific indicators of developmental gains
  • Core competency attainment
  • Changes in 360 evaluation

What the measure shows: Mentoring as a process was able to achieve results in these areas

Indicators of successful program execution

• Execution of the program
  • Ratings of program design
  • Ratings of team process-support of Coordinator
  • Communications about the program
  • Efficacy of orientation and training

What the measure shows: Success or failure of the partners could be due to excellent or poor program execution overall or in part

• Program Expansion
  • requests from individuals
  • Requests from organizations
• Ripple effect – more spontaneous mentoring reported
• ROI
  • Increased savings and earnings
  • Improved retention & recruitment

Evaluation methods and tools are available for measurement of progress at three critical points of a mentoring partnership.