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.