Together uses an algorithm for matching that can be customized with weighted questions and hard rules (e.g., avoiding direct reporting line matches, time zone restrictions). You can choose from admin-led matching (where admins approve or re-match suggestions), participant-led matching (where participants choose their mentors from a shortlist), or auto-matching (automated matching on a set cadence).

To create the best possible matches between mentors and mentees, we recommend asking questions across three main categories:

Profile questions are about the individual and their work history. They might include questions about an individual's specific experience with disciplines and functions.
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‍Skill questions probe into an individual's strengths and weaknesses, soft skills, and goals.

Experience questions ask about what the employee is hoping to gain from the mentorship, and what they can bring to the table.

The goal is to create a well-rounded questionnaire that will help you find the best mentor for each mentee. By focusing on the individuals, matching mentors and mentees into a well-balanced partnership is far more intuitive, making for mutually valuable pairing.

Check out this article to learn more best practices for mentor mentee matching.

Traditionally, mentor mentee matching was based on their similarities—if they had the same skills, for example, or came from a similar background. And it was all worked out on pen and paper, which took a lot of time and effort (with plenty of room for error).

Even when HR professionals started using spreadsheets, how could one or two people accurately and efficiently capture all the information needed to make a successful mentorship match? Making accurate matches was particularly challenging in companies with hundreds of employees.

This is why automated mentor matching tools, like Together, have completely transformed this process. Our powerful matching algorithm and automated questionnaires take a lot of the burden of matching mentors and mentees off your shoulders. You'll be able to find the right mentor for each mentee in your organization and create lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

To sum up, manual mentor matching:
- Requires more time and effort
- Is prone to human error
- Can't really scale as your organization or mentorship program grows
- Doesn't require any specific tools or budget

On the other hand, automated mentor matching:
- Saves you time and effort
- Limits the role of human bias and error
- Can scale with your organization and mentorship program
- Requires budget, approval, and time for setup