Your learner engagement isn’t where you’d like it to be. So, what’s a pro to do? We recommend structured mentoring for built-in accountability.
Mentoring does more than just transfer skills. LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report ranks mentoring among the top three most common strategies for employee engagement and retention.
Despite its importance, many mentoring programs are cobbled together with manual processes, outdated spreadsheets, and scattered documents. Surely, there must be a solution for the unrecognized labor, poorly tracked outcomes, and administrative headaches.
Mentoring has changed as work has gone digital. Now, digital natives guide industry veterans, while retirement-age employees pass their knowledge to a new generation. But without a structured approach, this knowledge transfer can be inconsistent and ineffective. By structuring your mentoring program, you can fit it seamlessly into training plans, track outcomes more accurately, and strengthen your culture of learning.
But what exactly makes modern mentoring so effective? We’ll help you answer just that. In this blog, you’ll learn:
- What makes modern mentoring effective
- The benefits for your L&D program
- Five ways to structure a mentoring program
- Best practices to consider
- The long-term impact of a successful mentoring program
A well-designed mentoring program doesn’t just benefit employees¾it strengthens knowledge-sharing, improves retention, and supports long-term business success. Let’s explore how you can build a modern mentoring strategy that drives real impact.
What is modern mentoring?
Modern mentoring supports the careers of millennials, Gen Z, Gen X, and boomers with non-traditional forms of mentoring. Examples of non-traditional mentoring include reverse mentoring, peer mentoring, and group mentoring (more on these later!). Here are some examples of modern mentoring at work:
- Employees at similar career levels support each other by sharing real-time problem-solving strategies and career advice.
- Junior employees mentor senior leaders on emerging trends like AI, social media, or DEI, creating a two-way learning experience.
- Smart algorithms match mentors and mentees based on skills, goals, and learning styles for more personalized growth.
Modernizing anything starts with better processes, design, and performance outcomes. Defining what better mentoring means for your team depends on your goals.
5 examples of modern mentoring for L&D outcomes
One-on-one mentoring is a tried-and-true way to grow your employees’ careers, but it’s not the only way to develop your team. What about shy employees who work better in a group setting? Or emerging leaders who could benefit from shadowing a mentor? Check out these familiar and fresh ways to approach mentoring.
1. Traditional one-on-one mentoring
One-on-one mentoring is the most recognized form of mentoring. This classic approach pairs an experienced professional with a less experienced mentee for guidance, knowledge-sharing, and career development.
Why it’s great for L&D: This model helps mentees achieve L&D goals by offering personalized feedback, real-world learning support, and fostering a learning culture. By networking with more experienced colleagues, they’ll be excited about their professional growth and improve their leadership readiness.
L&D metrics that benefit from one-on-one mentoring:
- Employee retention rate
- Promotion rate of mentees
- Competency scores
- Mentor/mentee satisfaction ratings
2. Peer-to-peer mentoring
Peer-to-peer mentoring connects colleagues at similar career levels to exchange knowledge, offer mutual support, and refine their skills through shared experiences.
Why it’s great for L&D: This model promotes collaboration, builds problem-solving skills, and, like one-on-one mentoring, supports your learning culture. For example, programs like Together’s Colleague Connect facilitate peer mentoring without hierarchical barriers, improving engagement with less effort for your team.
L&D metrics that benefit from peer-to-peer matching:
- Knowledge-sharing effectiveness (measured through assessments or peer feedback)
- Employee engagement scores
- Collaboration and teamwork ratings
- Learning completion rates
3. Group mentoring
Group mentoring is a great introduction to mentoring for entry-level, shy, or less engaged employees. One mentor guides multiple mentees at the same time, fostering a collaborative learning environment. This model allows participants to gain diverse perspectives and solve problems together.
Why it’s great for L&D: Group mentoring develops leadership skills, team cohesion, and cross-functional knowledge sharing. It’s also an efficient way to scale L&D while maximizing knowledge exchange across the business.
L&D metrics that benefit from group mentoring:
- Leadership pipeline development (measured by internal promotions)
- Cross-functional knowledge transfer
- Group engagement and participation rates
- Post-mentoring performance
4. Reverse mentoring
Reverse mentoring flips the traditional model by having younger or less experienced employees mentor senior leaders. This keeps executives updated on industry trends, technology, and workplace dynamics.
Why it’s great for L&D: Reverse mentoring enhances inclusivity, innovation, and adaptability by bridging generational gaps and encouraging open dialogue.
L&D metrics that benefit from reverse mentoring:
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) scores
- Digital literacy and innovation adoption rates
- Leadership adaptability and learning agility ratings
- Cross-generational engagement scores
5. Functional mentoring
Functional mentoring pairs employees with mentors who specialize in a particular domain. It’s commonly used in technical fields, compliance training, and emerging skills development so employees stay ahead in their field.
Why it’s great for L&D: This approach supports competency development, knowledge transfer, and role-specific learning.
L&D metrics that benefit from functional mentoring:
- Skills assessment scores before and after mentoring
- Role proficiency and job performance
- Compliance training completion rates
- Certification or credential attainment rates
Why your L&D strategy needs modern mentoring
At Absorb HQ, we’re always working to set new industry standards in personalized learning. And what’s more personal than mentoring? We saw great potential to bring mentoring and eLearning into one ecosystem, so we acquired Together, a leading mentoring and peer-to-peer learning software. By joining forces with mentoring experts, we’re giving the L&D industry a glow-up, helping leaders better monitor, measure, and visualize the impact of learning.
Need more convincing? See how modern mentoring improves key metrics without manual admin work.
Support better L&D results
Modern mentoring couldn’t be more aligned with L&D success metrics. With peer-to-peer learning, common challenges in L&D are much easier to overcome. Peer influence drives engagement, untapped knowledge surfaces across your organization, and shared perspectives turn courses into real-world knowledge.
This table shows even more ways L&D goals tie to mentoring:
Strategic L&D goal | How modern mentoring helps | How an LMS helps | Key result |
|---|---|---|---|
Enhance leadership skills | High-performing mentees automatically match with a compatible leader to deepen their skills | Mentees select leadership courses and pathways from a curated library based on their goals | Increase promotion rate by 10% within 12 months |
Increase employee engagement | Shy and introverted employees join group mentoring to become more comfortable with networking | At a group mentoring session for entry-level employees, a question about Microsoft Excel leads the group mentor to recommend a course in the LMS | Achieve 20% increase in employees reporting a strong sense of belonging in engagement surveys |
Attract and retain talent | Build trust with candidates by offering to connect them with an employee who benefitted from peer-to-peer matching | Employees work with their matched peer to identify skills gaps and find relevant content in the LMS to improve their competency | Increase retention rate among high-potential employees by 20% |
Improve succession planning | A high-potential Gen Z employee is assigned an experienced mentor for a cross-functional project | The Gen Z employee was selected to work with a functional mentor after completing an advanced certification in the LMS | Fill 70% of leadership roles with internal candidates within 2 years |
Speed up onboarding | A buddy welcomes new hires and promotes mentoring opportunities available to them | The buddy shows new hires how to make the most of LMS features, such as how to create profiles or access onboarding content | Reduce new hire ramp-up time by 25% within the first 90 days |
When mentoring strategically fits into L&D initiatives, organizations can unlock untapped knowledge, boost employee confidence, and create a culture of continuous learning. As the table shows, modern mentoring programs not only enhance individual growth but also deliver measurable business results, making mentoring a valuable investment for long-term success.
Strengthen your leadership pipeline
Leadership development is an exciting prospect for your employees, and mentoring plays a vital role in nurturing individual skills. By pairing emerging leaders with experienced mentors, you build their trust in your organization, enhance decision-making abilities, and build the confidence they’ll need for leadership roles.
Well-trained managers play a vital role in:
- Reducing turnover
- Increasing job satisfaction
- Improving employee retention
A mentor can teach nuanced decision-making in a way that an eLearning course can’t. Let’s say your company has a fast-moving, risk-averse culture. A mentor can help a new hire understand how to balance speed with compliance, when to push back on leadership decisions, or ways to tailor messages for different teams.
Instead of just knowing the theory, the mentee gains practical insights tailored to the company’s values, expectations, and informal power structures.
Add a human touch to remote learning
In a remote learning setting, personal connections between employees and mentors make all the difference. Mentoring bridges the gap between virtual learning and real-world application. By providing personalized guidance, feedback, and emotional support, mentors help learners feel seen and valued, even from a distance.
This human touch deepens the learning experiences, increasing engagement, motivation, and retention. Mentoring also builds a sense of community, so learners feel connected and supported throughout their career growth.
Jumpstart your learning culture
Matching employees with like-minded mentors makes learning more meaningful. Through one-on-one sessions, group discussions, or peer connections, employees gain valuable context. They see why each learning outcome is important, timely, and connected to their career success. How mentoring feeds your learning culture:
- More accountability for learners: Mentoring works in tandem with learning pathways. Mentors provide experiential learning by giving context to personalized learning in an LMS.
- Onboarding and buddy programs: A sense of belonging is crucial for retaining employees. Buddy systems make the right first impression with a personal welcome to new employees.
- Promote inclusivity and diverse leadership: In the words of Marian Wright Edelman, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” Modern mentoring creates more authentic diversity programs and employee resource groups by personalizing mentoring based on shared life experiences.
Modern mentoring amplifies the impact of your organization’s culture. While a young professional might overlook a mandatory compliance module, a mentor can share examples to show how their safety, employment, or the company is at risk.
For a new hire, they might struggle to integrate with the wider team. An onboarding buddy can offer tips to make the most of the company’s events and networking opportunities. That’s why investing in your learning culture provides a strategic advantage for your organization.
Best practices for outcome-based mentoring
What gets measured gets managed. To make sure your mentoring delivers your L&D outcomes, find ways to structure your tracking based on your goals. Here are three ways to get started.
1. Set clear goals between mentor/peer and mentee
A successful mentoring program begins with well-defined goals that align with personal and business objectives. Mentees should set learning objectives, while mentors provide guidance and accountability to track progress. Clear expectations, measurable milestones, and structured mentoring sessions will all create productive relationships.
2. Align mentoring programs with business and learning objectives
Mentoring is an important part of any strategic learning system (SLS). For mentoring to drive meaningful outcomes, it must align with organizational goals. The same goes for L&D. When these two forces come together, you can strengthen both individual and business performance.
Here are some examples:
Skill development
- Goal: Enhance leadership and decision-making abilities
- L&D outcome: More confident and effective communication, leading to better knowledge sharing and leadership presence
Career growth
- Goal: Create a roadmap for career progression
- L&D outcome: Higher employee engagement and lower turnover because employees see a clear path forward
Strategic thinking and problem-solving
- Goal: Learn how to handle conflict resolution
- L&D outcome: Improved team dynamics and faster resolution of workplace issues
Businesses can strengthen their L&D strategy by connecting mentorship to performance metrics, leadership development, and skill-building initiatives. Companies can track effectiveness using feedback scores, satisfaction ratings, and employee growth assessments.
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3. Use technology for end-to-end program delivery
Manual mentoring management doesn’t compare to software-based solutions. Technology helps enterprises scale mentoring programs efficiently, creating quality experiences as you expand to new locations.
- AI-powered matching: Automatically pair mentors and mentees based on skills, goals, and preferences.
- Smart administration: Reduce admin work with automated registration, scheduling, and event reminders.
- Custom reporting: Track engagement, meeting frequency, and goal progress with real-time analytics.
- Built-in ecosystem: Standardize and scale mentoring experiences across teams and locations for better insights and more participant feedback.
Mentoring platforms like Together help match mentors and mentees, track progress, and provide resources for continuous learning.
How it’s done: Louisiana Office of Public Health
The Louisiana Office of Public Health (OPH) plays a vital role in protecting and promoting community well-being. But like many L&D teams, OPH had concerns about growing skills gaps and a lack of continuous learning. The OPH faced several workforce challenges threatening its mission:
- High turnover due to stress and burnout
- Talent gaps from retiring staff
- Lack of leadership skills among employees
- Need for diverse learning formats and connection opportunities
An internal survey revealed the urgency. 23% considered leaving within a year, and 29% planned to retire within five, highlighting the need for retention strategies. Recognizing the need for a sustainable workforce development strategy, OPH sought a solution that would boost retention while fostering key L&D outcomes like skill-building, connection, and engagement.
The solution
OPH chose Together’s mentorship software to create a structured program that improved mentor-mentee matching, streamlined administration, and offered diverse learning formats. Here’s how they did it:
- Matched mentors and mentees with an algorithm based on interests, roles, and goals
- Structured mentorship cohorts run in six sessions over six months
- Provided training, speaker series, and engagement tools to boost participation
- Created agenda templates to help structure discussions
- Offered webinars and development sessions offered as additional resources and networking opportunities
Instead of managing mentorship manually, they used a platform that helped them scale their initiatives without adding admin. The result? A more personalized, engaging mentoring experience that renewed excitement across the organization.
The results
OPH successfully addressed their challenges and created a thriving environment for public health professionals. Now in its fourth cohort, the program has delivered:
- 100% participant satisfaction
- 83% of mentees started with little to no skill proficiency, 100% gained competency by the end
- Stronger retention rates among participants
The OPH mentorship program has become a transformative initiative, addressing key L&D challenges while fostering a culture of learning, connection, and professional growth. By implementing Together’s mentorship software, OPH created a structured, accessible program that supports employees at all levels.
Bring eLearning to life with modern mentoring
Mentoring is the ultimate companion to L&D. But to stay effective, it needs to adapt to today’s demands for efficiency, outcomes, and your employees’ needs. To have an impact on L&D, mentoring should be:
- Personalized based on each employee’s unique skills
- Structured for better tracking and reporting as you scale
- Aligned with your business objectives to drive ROI
As part of any strategic learning system (SLS), modern mentoring is a powerful social learning tool to drive outcomes. Mentoring strengthens your performance enablement, improves internal mobility, and creates a learning culture ahead of industry shifts.
Want to learn more about strategic learning?
Start tracking even more L&D outcomes by watching Mastering enterprise learning: The power of strategic learning systems
