Reporting is part and parcel of running a program. And while reporting is great for accountability and keeping your stakeholders informed of how things are going, it’s also an opportunity to get more and stronger buy-in, as well as to strengthen or create a culture of mentoring in your organisation.

So how do you make your reports a 10/10 on all fronts? Let’s get to it.

Align your reports to high-level goals

We always advise aligning your mentoring program’s goals to that of your organisation. This ensures you have a better chance of getting support for the program. When reporting time comes around, it’s good to remind your stakeholders of what it’s contributed on that front. If you’re planning to scale, this is also a great time to show projections on the impact your program could make with a wider scope and more resources.

For example, if one of your program’s goals was to form more cross-departmental relationships among employees, you can relate the benefit of reaching this goal to increasing efficiencies in cross-team projects.

Or if your DEI program has contributed to allowing more minorities to move into leadership roles, celebrate that and highlight how more diverse leadership teams tend to see more success. 

Be concise

It’s easy to get way into the weeds when it comes to reporting. Make sure you’re presenting just the relevant bits. We recommend always highlighting your main indicators of overall program health:

• Program growth
• Match rate
• Sentiment

If there have been any significant changes or interesting trends to minor metrics such as Goals and Tasks within a specific reporting or performance review period, it would be good to call them out then but don’t stress about reporting on these every time.

Your Mentoring Quality Score or MQS is a great indicator of overall program health. You can use this as your main indicator of how the program is progressing over time.

"MQS over time is a good metric to use as it works for both the individual and program level. It proves to be an effective metric for Program Coordinators as the feedback provided by participant's are given in real time and it incorporates ALL input and generates an average." 

- Janina 

"There is a great article on Mentoring Hours from our Mentorloop Blog that is quite insightful! I learnt that vanity metrics such as number of meetings or number of hours spent mentoring might not always be the way to go. At Mentorloop, we believe in creating purpose-driven relationships so at times it is more about the quality of those mentoring sessions than the quantity."

- Janina 

Present your data in a visually appealing way

Making your data look good also makes it easier to understand and digest. No spreadsheets, please!

Instead, take advantage of the Mentorloop Dashboard. For example, instead of just a spreadsheet to show how your program has grown over time or how matching is going, why not the graph and charts on your Mentorloop dashboard? Not only do these show data in a more aesthetically pleasing way, but they also make your data easier to understand and put into context. 

Tell a story

Quantitative data is great for showing what your program’s health is like on paper but qualitative data is what can really display the impact of your program. It’s the stories of your participants that show your stakeholders the human face of your program and makes the benefits of the program relatable. 

Your MQS score says that your participants are having a great time and are getting a lot of benefits from the program, and that’s great! But a story about how a mentee was able to get some support in honing specific skills and finally getting the confidence to apply for and get a promotion or a transfer is where the impact really comes to the fore. 

You can also tell a story based on your participant's milestones which are automated checkpoints that participants achieve based on their progress in mentoring relationships. Milestones make it easy for you to track their progress and provide a more structured mentoring experience for the participants, you can track your participant's milestones all from your dashboard.

Want to learn more about Milestones? Check out the Milestones FAQ page. 

So to really bring home the impact of your awesome mentoring program, always use a blend of quantitative and qualitative data. 

Advice from our Customer Success Team

Use highlights to find your Mentoring Champions and share their stories and feedback:

"The highlights feature allows you to identify participants that are highly engaged with the mentoring program. From there, you can reach out to those participants and ask them for their advice and key takeaway from joining the program!"
- Janina 

Talk the program up

And finally, don’t be afraid to brag about your program! No, it’s not unnecessary and it’s not self-indulgent. Think of it as reassuring everyone that this mentoring program is, and will continue to be, a good investment. Talking your program up builds confidence among stakeholders and strengthens leadership buy-in. And who knows, it might even encourage more of them to take part in it!

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We hope these tips help you nail your next report. Good luck!