4 Example Mentoring Program Goals to Steal

Mentoring program goals are a crucial part of developing any successful mentoring program. They give your business and your participants clear direction and something to work towards.

The best mentoring program goals align with your wider business objectives, as well as support the individuals involved towards their personal goals.

Everyone knows there’s loads of benefits to mentoring, so it’s easy to fall into the trap of not setting goals thinking it will have a positive impact regardless.

While this may be true, mentoring programs without goals are going to be harder to promote, measure, maintain momentum, and prove ROI. As with anything you want people to get behind, there needs to be a clear purpose and therefore a goal.

In this article we suggest 4 examples of mentoring program goals and how you can achieve them. Let’s dig in!

1. Mentoring Program Goal: ‘Create a Leadership Pipeline’

Getting the right, high-potential employees into leadership should be a priority for any forward thinking business. Making this an essential mentoring program goal.

Your goal should be clearly defined and based on tangible outcomes. For example, you may want to create a multi-year graduate to leadership pipeline that puts mentoring at its core to develop new graduates.

Mentoring is a great way to identify and support these employees, developing their communication and leadership skills as well as opening up their networks. It also reduces the hiring costs accrued when searching for leadership talent externally.

📖 Read more on why leaders need mentoring and coaching here 📖

Example Program Objective

The objective of the mentoring program is to develop and nurture a the next generation of leaders who possess the skills, knowledge, and mindset necessary to effectively lead our business.

The program aims to equip mentees with the essential leadership capabilities, encourage personal growth, and inspire them to make a positive impact on their teams. 

2. Mentoring Program Goal: ‘Increase Employee Retention’

You’ve noticed that a number of employees have been leaving the company for things like higher pay or further opportunities, but with that comes a loss of productivity and knowledge.

To increase employee retention you need reasons for employees to remain and mentoring can work as part of this plan. Mentoring is an investment into employee development, helping them learn more about their role and helping them reach their potential. It aids in creating a positive company culture where employees feel valued.

As statistics show, 37% of employees have a mentor, largely centred across Fortune 500 companies as 84% of fortune 500 companies have a mentoring programme. These companies understand the importance of further developing their own talent to reduce external hiring costs and knowledge retention.

Mentoring improves cross team communication, decreases isolation and improves confidence and gives the mentor a trusted point of contact to help them in dealing with workplace or confidence issues. Where you reduce the risk of employees feeling isolated, you reduce the risk of them falling to the wayside, increased stress and early exits.

Example Program Objective

The objective of the mentoring program is to enhance employee retention rates by providing personalised support, guidance, and professional development opportunities to employees. The program aims to foster strong relationships between mentors and mentees, promote a sense of belonging and engagement, and empower employees to achieve their full potential within the organisation.

3. Mentoring Program Goal: ‘Increase Onboarding Efficiency’

Not only can mentoring increase the retention rate of old employees but new employees too. 33% of new hires quit within the first 6 months. This number can be higher for some companies and teams than others, and knowing that hiring can be very expensive and time consuming we want to reduce the risks of this occurring.

This is why you should embed mentoring into your onboarding program and make it your primary program goal.

Mentoring decreases time to competency by giving employees guidance on understanding the company functions, the variety of roles and an insight into the company culture. Mentors also help new employees understand the landscape of their new company. Through creating this connection between mentor and mentee, you reduce the chances of losing employees early into onboarding.

📖 Find out more about implementing mentoring for onboarding here 📖

Example Program Objective

The objective of the mentoring program is to provide comprehensive support to new hires during their onboarding process, facilitating their smooth integration into the organisation and maximising their productivity and engagement from the start.

The program will pair new employees with experienced mentors who can provide guidance, share knowledge, and foster a sense of belonging and connection within the organisation. By focusing on the onboarding experience, the program aims to accelerate new hires’ learning, enhance their job satisfaction, and contribute to their long-term success within the organisation.

4. Mentoring Program Goal: ‘Increase Diverse Representation in Leadership’

Mentoring can support DE&I initiatives in a number of ways, a key one being increasing representation in leadership and supporting a future pipeline of diverse employees with the potential to lead.

Take our client, LVMH for example, it set a goal to increase its number of women leaders, aiming for 50/50 women in leadership. One of the ways it planned to do this was through mentoring. They already had a pool of talent in their company and a senior leader with knowledge to be shared – making it the perfect environment to create a mentoring program aimed at getting that talent into leadership roles.

The best part is, through initiatives such as reverse mentoring, you can get you employees mentoring leadership showing them first hand what they’re capable of. This is a great way to open up senior leaders to new perspectives, increase cultural competency and understanding and develop the skills of your mentors.

Example Program Objective

The objective of the women in leadership mentoring program is to identify and support potential female leaders into leadership roles. The goal is to increase female representation in leadership by X% in 2025. 

By providing mentorship, guidance, and opportunities for skill development, the program aims to inspire and equip women with the tools and confidence necessary to succeed in leadership positions. 

There we have it, 4 example mentoring program goals for you to use, today! Mentoring ensures that all employees have access to training and can get help in developing and defining their goals and aspirations. In order to do this effectively, you need to set your program goals from the start. These are just 4 examples of how you can use mentoring to empower your people.

To find out more, check out our further resources: 

The Benefits of Coaching and Mentoring 

Remove the Admin Burden of Mentoring

5 Employee Retention Strategies That You Can Action Today

How Mentoring Makes Great Managers

10 Top Companies Making the Most Out of Mentoring

Mentorship vs. Sponsorship: The More is Better Approach to Personal Development

The What, Why and How of Returnship Programs