Matching mentors and mentees

Formal mentoring programmes include a formal process for matching mentors and mentees. This can involve both potential mentors and mentees filling in profile forms that the programme manager – possibly collaborating with an external consultant – use to match participants in mentor/mentee pairs.

The purpose of matching is to create the best possible basis for learning for both parties. The above model illustrates that the more mentors and mentees resemble each other, the easier it is for them to connect and confirm each other in the prejudices they share concerning the outside world. The more different the mentors and mentees are, the more effort is required to build up a trustful relationship, but the opportunity for learning is far greater.

Several criteria in the matching process must be taken into account: mentors' and mentees' personal profiles, what they want to learn and how they want to develop, their experience, educational backgrounds and professions, maturity, and more pragmatic aspects such as geography and transport options – and finally, their mutual relationships, especially if they work for the same organisation. To ensure maximum confidentiality and to minimise the risk of dilemmas concerning conflicting interests, it is important that mentors and mentees come from different parts of the organisation and are not involved with each other in formal hierarchical lines (also called "off-line" matching vs. "in-line" matching). In terms of open mentoring programmes, it is vital that they do not come from competing companies or otherwise experience dilemmas inherent in the match. This is an absolutely vital foundation for creating confidentiality.

Trusting the quality of the matching process is one of the success criteria for ensuring the match will work. This trust is based on:

• Their perception of having an influence on the matching process.
• It is clear that both mentor and mentee have the opportunity to learn.
• There are clear criteria for selecting and matching participants so there can be no doubt about why they have been selected and matched.
• The match fits the organisational purpose of the programme.

Interestingly, it is difficult to find research confirming personality traits as important matching criteria. Personality tests and emotional intelligence profiles and the like can be valuable input to the matching process and great tools for giving mentors and mentees more insight into themselves as a preparation for the mentoring process but they are not miracle tools for ensuring the best match between mentors and mentees. There are, however, some elements that can become major barriers to a good mentoring process if they are not taken into account in the matching process (Clutterbuck, 2009; Hale, 2000; Law et al, 2007):

Basic assumptions and values – it is easier for mentor and mentee to achieve an open an trustful communication if they have a basic common perception of what is right and wrong and what are important values in life e.g. in relation to career, family, children, power and status. If you wish to match for diversity, both mentors and mentees need more preparation.

Experience – when there is an appropriate difference in experience (and hierarchical position) between mentor and mentee the potential for learning is obvious. However, there should not be too much difference, no more so than mentee can imagine him/herself in the mentor’s position.

Readiness – and maturity to be open for learning and development in both mentor and mentee.

Geography – when talking about face-to-face physical meetings geographical location of mentor and mentee when they live too far apart can become a barrier to their mentoring meetings.

The job of the programme manager in selecting and matching mentors and mentees is to take into account all the success criteria and potential barriers and create the best possible matches – and be able to argue and clarify why these matches have been made.

However, that does not mean that all mentoring matches work optimally. There is no miracle tool for matching, and programme managers can make the wrong decision, due to a lack of important information or simply by misunderstanding the participants' wishes and needs. In such cases, the problem must be addressed and the programme manager, together with the mentor and mentee, must decide whether the pair wishes to continue or whether a new match should be made.