Mentoring Youth

For the mentee:

• Provides support, encouragement and guidance of a trusted role model, leading to increased self-esteem and reduced risk of delinquent behavior.
• Offers help, insight and reassurance in learning about, navigating and adjusting to the world of work, thus leading to better retention in school, work-based learning and employment.
• Accelerates development of both technical (job related) and behavioral (soft) skills, resulting in improved job performance, higher earnings, faster promotions and greater job and career satisfaction.
• Brings increased social capital, i.e., connections to hiring managers, potential funding sources or school admission officers,leading to higher probability of continuing education, employment, entrepreneurial or career success.

For the educator:

• Supports positive academic outcomes, such as better attendance, lower dropout rates and better probability of continuing education.
• Promotes socio-emotional development of students, and builds their self-esteem, resilience and social skills, resulting in reduced risk of delinquent behaviors and substance abuse.
• Provides positive role models from the relevant industries and helps students to connect school to work, leading to improved employability and smoother transition from classroom to workplace.
• Brings project-based learning and thus develops entrepreneurial
  skills and mindset.

For the mentor:

• Provides opportunity to share knowledge and experience, and thus contribute to mentee’s personal and professional growth, leading to greater sense of accomplishment, meaning, and job satisfaction.
• Expands personal and professional network within their organization and community, resulting in enhanced visibility, reputation and recognition.
• Improves technical, managerial and interpersonal skills in counseling, listening, modeling and leading others, and ultimately increases the probability of career advancement and success.
• Brings additional opportunities to interact with diverse groups, test new ideas and gain new perspectives from young people, thus gaining deeper awareness of cultural, business and social issues.

For the employer:

• Provides cost-effective talent development and shortens the time to full productivity for newly hired employees.
• Ensures better informed and motivated staff, even in entry level positions, leading to higher productivity, service quality and customer satisfaction.
• Increases the job satisfaction of both mentors and mentees, resulting in reduced employee turnover, higher staff morale, and engagement.
• Promotes diversity in the organization and strengthens
  community impact.

For planning and implementing a mentoring program:

• Formal, well-structured and consistently supported programs are more successful.
• After conducting needs and capacity assessment, the program should establish its purpose, objectives, budget and staff.
• Identifying an executive sponsor, a committed program manager, and/or a partner is essential.
• Engaging a trusted partner organization with proven experience and expertise in running similar programs can accelerate successful implementation.
• The implementation plan must define program goals, expected outcomes and performance indicators, roles and responsibilities, financial and human resources, systems and processes, and the implementation timeline.

For mentor and mentee recruitment and selection:

• Have a clearly defined written eligibility criteria and process for identifying both mentors and mentees.
• Have a thorough screening plan for mentors, including face-to-face interview and reference checks.
• Commitment letters (mentoring agreements) signed by both mentors and mentees.

Mentor and mentee training:

• Mentors and mentees are clear on program’s purpose, goals, expectations, protocols and boundaries. Potential challenges and options for resolving them are discussed.
• Mentors are trained on mentoring principles, techniques, activities and all other relevant issues.
• Mentors and mentees are provided with additional resources, contacts and ongoing support.

For matching mentors and mentees:

• Matching algorithm considers various characteristics of the mentor and mentee, such as interests, cognitive style, proximity, age, gender, race, ethnicity, personality, and expressed priorities from both parties.
• Mentee is never paired with his/her direct supervisor.
• Mentors and mentees know how to opt out of a non-functional relationship.

For managing a mentoring program:

• Mentors and mentees are supported by program staff and/or the partner organization.
• Mentoring relationships are supervised for compliance to program standards, while the confidentiality of mentor-mentee communication is preserved.
• To continuously improve the program, feedback is regularly gathered from mentors, mentees, teachers or department supervisors, parents and other relevant stakeholders.
• Good mentors are valued and recognized in their organization and/or community.

For evaluating a mentoring program:

• To evaluate program results and impact against set objectives, each mentoring relationship is monitored, assessed and documented. Program’s cost-benefit is calculated.
• Performance statistics (quantitative and qualitative) are frequently communicated to all stakeholders.
• When possible, a formal program evaluation by an external evaluator is conducted.