Developing any type of mentoring program is complicated. The likelihood of success is dependent on a number of factors: the design, participant selection, training and feedback. Today, I will focus on the selection of and matching of mentor program participants.

You have probably heard before that there is a science and an art to matching mentors and mentees. The science of the selection process often uses data while the art taps into our intuition and gut sense of who will work well together. Relying on one of these is often not enough; using both of them will increase your program’s success.

Companies that haphazardly determine mentoring matches are more likely to see a higher failure rate.  It is important that the mentor and mentee have trust and solid common ground to build their new relationship.

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