Success beyond usual achievements
Mentoring sessions are a great way to overcome professional obstacles and obtaining guidance when you are feeling the need of achieving a goal. Having a clear understanding of what you are looking for is helpful for both parties to understand what to get out of the sessions.
But beyond knowing the goals to achieve there must be metrics defined to measure the mentoring overcome. This is when both the mentor and the mentee must work together at the beginning to define what success looks like.
If you have no idea how to measure it, then you've come to the right place. In this article we will be discussing and explaining the best metrics to have in mind when starting your mentoring journey.
How to choose the right mentorship goals
Strong mentoring programs begin with clarity. Before defining metrics, organizations need a clear “north star” that connects mentoring objectives to business strategy. That strategy might focus on talent development, diversity and inclusion, succession planning, cultural cohesion, or retention. Without this link, mentoring goals become vague and difficult to measure.
Mentoring objectives should be defined as specific outcomes the organization expects to see. Common goals for mentoring include improved retention, faster skill development, stronger engagement, or clearer career progression. Each objective needs baseline data so progress can be assessed over time. For example, if retention is a priority, current turnover rates among target groups should be documented before the program begins.
Using a SMART or OKR-style framework helps translate intent into action. Effective mentoring objectives are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Smart mentoring goals examples might include increasing internal promotion rates by a defined percentage, reducing time to productivity for new hires, or improving engagement scores tied to development opportunities. Clear key results, such as Glassdoor ratings or internal mobility metrics, make success visible.
While program-level objectives provide direction, mentees should own their individual mentorship goals. Allowing mentees to define personal goals within the program’s structure increases motivation and accountability. Mentors and program administrators play a critical role in ensuring these individual objectives align with broader business priorities.
High-level ambitions like “improve culture” or “increase diversity” need to be translated into concrete metrics and action plans. That means defining who is involved, what resources are required, the expected timeline, and how progress will be tracked. For example, diversity-focused mentoring programs have led 63% of participating companies to report positive impacts on gender diversity, demonstrating that abstract goals can become measurable outcomes.
Clear expectations also matter. Mentees should understand that they drive the relationship by scheduling meetings, preparing agendas, and following through on actions. Mentors provide guidance, feedback, and accountability. This clarity directly affects mentorship success and goal attainment.
8 Mentoring objectives to measure success
Improved skillset
One of the most common mentoring objectives is closing skill gaps, especially as organizations anticipate shortages in critical capabilities over the next two to five years. Mentoring is particularly effective for developing skills that are difficult to teach through formal training alone, such as leadership, communication, or strategic thinking.
Skill-focused mentoring works best when designed intentionally. This starts with a skills gap analysis to identify “skill-haves” and “skill-needs,” followed by structured pathways aligned to targeted competencies. Without this structure, “skill development” remains subjective.
At the relationship level, SMART goals make skill improvement observable. For example, rather than aiming to “improve negotiation skills,” a clear goal might be to lead two client negotiations independently within three months. These smart mentoring goals examples allow progress to be assessed objectively.
Skill gains can be measured through pre- and post-program self-assessments, manager feedback, and observable changes in output, quality, or efficiency. On the mentor side, improved skillset often shows up as stronger leadership and coaching abilities. Explaining complex topics and giving feedback consistently sharpens these capabilities.
The business impact is significant. 67% of businesses report increased productivity due to mentoring, and 63% of HR leaders believe mentoring increases individual performance.
Goal achievement
Effective mentoring programs treat mentorship goals as shared commitments rather than informal aspirations. Mentors and mentees define what success looks like and track progress through regular check-ins and structured connection plans.
Using the SMART framework helps turn vague intentions into concrete outcomes. A goal like “get better at presenting” becomes “deliver a 10-minute presentation to the leadership team by Q3 and incorporate mentor feedback.”
At the program level, goal achievement can be tracked through the percentage of completed learning plans, the proportion of mentoring objectives met, and progress against agreed OKRs. Surveys that ask mentees whether they achieved the goals set with their mentor provide a quantitative view of goal quality and accountability.
Tracking goal achievement across cohorts helps organizations refine matching processes, mentor training, and resources. Over time, this increases the percentage of mentoring pairs that meet or exceed their objectives, strengthening overall mentorship success.
Career progress
Career development remains one of the most cited objectives of mentorship programs. This includes promotions, internal mobility, expanded responsibilities, and clearer career trajectories. Demand for career-focused mentoring is high: 76% of professionals believe a mentor is important for growth, yet more than 54% do not have one.
Mentoring supports career progress by helping mentees understand organizational dynamics, build visibility with senior leaders, and navigate key decisions. Well-designed programs align mentoring tracks with defined career pathways and match mentees with mentors who have followed similar routes.
Career progress can be measured by comparing promotion and internal movement rates for participants versus non-participants. Mentors and mentees in mentoring programs are promoted far more frequently, with mentors promoted six times more often and mentees five times more often than employees not involved in mentoring.
Qualitative indicators include increased clarity about career direction, perceived readiness for next-level roles, and evidence of sponsorship, such as mentors advocating for opportunities.
Participation rates
Participation rates are a foundational indicator of mentoring success. They reflect awareness, accessibility, and perceived value of the program. Low participation often signals misalignment between program design and employee needs.
Metrics include signup rates, active match rates, and meeting frequency. Segmenting participation by role, department, location, and demographic group helps assess whether access aligns with talent and DEI strategies.
Participation data is especially important given unmet demand. 56% of American workers report not having a mentor, and 34% say the lack of mentorship has held them back. Millennials and Gen Z workers, in particular, view mentoring as critical to long-term success.
Participation goals should tie back to the program’s north star, such as onboarding new hires or supporting high-potential talent, rather than focusing on volume alone.
Engagement and retention levels
Retention and engagement are among the most common goals for mentoring, and the data strongly supports this focus. In one large study, retention rates were 72% for mentees and 69% for mentors, compared with 49% for employees not in mentoring programs.
Engagement can be observed through meeting consistency, preparation, and qualitative feedback. At the program level, comparing retention rates between participants and non-participants provides a clear signal of impact.
Mentoring also influences satisfaction. 91% of workers with a mentor report being satisfied with their jobs, compared with significantly higher quit intentions among those without mentors. Additionally, most workers say they would stay longer at a company that invests in learning and development, reinforcing mentoring’s role in retention strategies.
Return on investment
ROI connects mentoring objectives to business outcomes. It can be framed around avoided turnover costs, productivity gains, faster onboarding, and stronger promotion pipelines.
Cost inputs include software, administration, training, and mentor time. Outcomes might include higher retention, salary-grade changes, or improved performance metrics. For example, in one corporate program, 25% of mentoring participants experienced a salary-grade change, compared with just 5% of non-participants.
ROI also includes intangible gains such as improved culture, leadership readiness, and employer brand. These can be proxied through engagement scores, internal NPS, or Glassdoor ratings. Building ROI expectations into the initial business case ensures mentoring success is evaluated against clear hypotheses.
Performance reviews
Mentoring objectives are most effective when aligned with performance management. Development areas identified in performance reviews can become explicit mentoring goals, creating continuity between feedback and action.
Over time, organizations can track changes in performance ratings for mentees compared with non-participants. Where formal ratings are not used, proxy metrics such as project outcomes, sales results, or 360-feedback still provide insight into mentoring-driven improvement.
Performance narratives often highlight mentoring impact, bringing data to life through concrete examples of growth and contribution.
Mentor/Mentee satisfaction score
Satisfaction is a direct indicator of mentoring quality. Simple rating questions provide comparable data across cohorts, while qualitative feedback highlights strengths and friction points.
Both mentors and mentees should be asked about communication, alignment, usefulness, and willingness to participate again. Satisfaction scores help refine matching, training, and goal-setting processes and are closely linked to long-term mentorship success.
Measuring mentor success as a mentor
Mentor success often shows up as growth in leadership, communication, and coaching capability. These outcomes align closely with broader leadership development goals.
Mentor-side objectives may include becoming a more effective communicator, acting as an organizational connector, or giving more structured feedback. These behaviors can be assessed through self-assessments, manager input, and peer feedback before and after program participation.
Continued engagement is another signal. Mentors who volunteer for future cohorts or become recognized advisors demonstrate sustained impact. Over time, mentors often experience their own career progress, reinforcing mentoring as a two-way development mechanism.
Measuring mentorship success as a mentee
For mentees, mentorship success centers on progress toward stated goals. This may include skill acquisition, increased confidence, clearer career direction, or tangible milestones such as certifications or internal moves.
Measurement combines goal completion, self-efficacy surveys, and concrete outcomes. Mentoring also improves understanding of organizational culture, which is especially important for onboarding and inclusion-focused programs.
Quantitative signals include recommendation rates, perceived support, and clarity about future opportunities. Long-term indicators such as retention and promotion rates provide a more objective view of mentee success.
Measuring success beyond the mentoring session
The true impact of mentoring extends beyond individual sessions. At the organizational level, success shows up in stronger retention, healthier culture, deeper leadership benches, and improved reputation as an employer that invests in people.
Metrics include onboarding speed, internal promotion rates, diversity in leadership, engagement scores, and productivity indicators. Qualitative signals include stories of cross-functional collaboration and employees citing mentoring as a reason they stayed or advanced.
Over time, strong mentoring cultures become self-sustaining. Former mentees step into mentor roles, and mentoring becomes embedded in how development happens. This is the clearest sign that mentoring objectives are not only being met, but are shaping long-term mentorship success across the organization.
Start tracking your success with measurable KPIs
Metrics can be applied to everything in life, but the goal is to know which ones work best for your specific case. Even though you have no idea where to start, understanding and defining your needs at the beginning is great place to get going.
With the metrics we shared you can go ahead and add a new layer of measurement to the mentoring session. This goes beyond the basic goal-achievement method that's normally applied.
Mentors CX was created with the idea for people to have a place where they can find the best guidance on the CX industry. So, measuring success is the best way to understand how a mentoring relationship benefits both parties. Search for the best mentors and contact them to start working on your goals and to define the right metrics for the case.
