There are three matching styles you can choose from with Mentorloop Pro:
- Manual Match
- Self Match
- Blended
With Mentorloop Enterprise, Smart Match is also available. Smart Match allows you to build a unique matching algorithm suited to your program goals. To find out more, contact: support@mentorloop.com
In this article, we'll help you choose your matching style by exploring how they differ, examples of where and when they work best, and pros and cons of each.
Manual Match
When selecting this option, you are choosing to be in full control of the pairings in your program. That means you will be responsible for manually reviewing participant profiles to see where there might be some similarities or overlap of interests or areas that mentees would like to develop. You are also then responsible for connecting each participant with their partners.
It may sound like a lot of work, however, Mentorloop's matching tool saves you time and effort by making it super easy to compare mentoring profiles, identify compatibilities between mentors and mentees, review draft matches and create great matches. Learn more about creating matches on Mentorloop here.
Manual Match is great for smaller programs where you, the Program Coordinator, may have intimate knowledge of the people involved. This also works well if you are running a highly curated program, one for ‘high potentials’, or other types of smaller, targeted programs.
This also works well for programs where you want more control. For example, some programs may need sensitive data. For example, DEI programs will ask for things like ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. to match participants, while some ERG programs may want to match participants based on whether participants are in certain stages of their lives - parenting, loss, re-entering the workforce, etc. In these cases, it wouldn’t be appropriate to give the entire cohort access to this information so it’s best the program coordinator takes charge of matching.
Another use case for this type of matching style is if your program has highly specific goals. An example would be programs that aim to form and strengthen cross-departmental and cross-functional relationships and knowledge exchange. For this type of program, it’s good to take control of matching so you can be sure no one is matched with a mentoring partner within their department.
Pros:
- Full control over the matching process
- You can be assured that everyone is matched
- Prevents “celebrity mentors” from getting too many requests or mentees requesting matches with the most senior person they find regardless of fit
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Removes some of the bias that would occur when participants match themselves (e.g. requesting matches with people they already know, or people similar to them)
Cons:
- This can be a time-consuming process
- You will also be responsible for troubleshooting (e.g. rematching) when matches don’t work out
Self Match
This option empowers your participants to find their own matches at a time that’s convenient for them. Your participants can browse the platform for a mentoring partner based on anything that appears on their profile - this could be skills, location, role, industry, or even the information in their more detailed bio. They are then responsible for reaching out and connecting with a mentoring partner, who then has the option to accept or politely decline.
Mentorloop guides your participants through the process by surfacing Recommended Matches suggested by the Mentorloop algorithm based on criteria such as skills, goals, and experience, as well as matching rules determined by your program theme.
Self Match is great for larger programs or if you do not have as much time to dedicate to manually matching your entire cohort. This is also great for setting the expectation that the participants are responsible for driving their mentoring relationships and progress.
Pros:
- Less time investment for the program coordinator
- Participants take control of their mentoring relationships from the start
- Allows you to more easily build an always-on mentoring culture
- This option feels the most like inviting people into a community
Cons:
- Some participants may struggle to find matches unassisted
- Program coordinators have to make sure participants are engaged and keen on mentoring, monitoring progress and taking measures to nudge things along for the stragglers. Drumming up excitement and keeping engagement up becomes the program coordinator’s main focus.
Blended (Recommended)
As the name suggests, Blended Matching offers the best of both worlds, which is why it's our recommended approach and is automatically selected for Pro programs during the build process. But don't worry, you can make changes to this in Program Builder if you like!
It allows you to encourage people to take charge of their mentoring journeys while still making it possible for you to step in when someone needs a hand with finding a match.
Advice from our Customer Success team:
"Sometimes control over the initial matching is important to your program. If this is you, consider enabling Self Match a few weeks into the program — we have seen this to be extremely effective. It gives participants autonomy to find someone else if their match isn't suitable. Better yet, the ability to make more connections (in addition to who has been carefully selected for them by you)."