Matching, run on your criteria.

Mentor matching pairs each mentee with a mentor on criteria you set, like goals and experience. By hand, it takes about ten minutes a pair. At Evensteer, we set the criteria with you, and the system proposes pairs. It checks who reports to whom, to catch anyone paired with their own manager. A specialist reviews each run. Your team approves every pair before any introduction goes out under your name.

Match on the mentee’s goal first, then the mentor’s skills, then how far apart the two sit in the company. Add a few rules you won’t bend, like never pairing someone with their own manager. Keep the list short, because every extra criterion makes good pairs harder to find. Write the criteria down before you match anyone. Evensteer starts with a criteria workshop, so your team agrees on what makes a good pair.

Yes, a spreadsheet works for a small first cohort, as long as one person owns it and the rules are written down. It gets hard as the program grows. Conflicts, repeat pairs and late sign-ups slip through, and matching can eat a whole weekend. Once the sheet needs more than one person to keep it straight, it’s time for a system. Evensteer matches the whole cohort in days, and you approve every pair.

Match reverse mentoring pairs on what the leader wants to learn and what the junior person knows well. Here a junior employee mentors a senior one. Common topics are new tools and how newer staff see the company. Keep the reporting-line rule, so nobody mentors a leader in their own chain. That way both can speak freely. Brief the senior person first, so they come ready to listen.

Yes, tell each person why you paired them, in a short note. People give a match a real try when the reason makes sense to them. Point to the mentee’s goal and the mentor’s skill or experience that fits it. The note also gives the pair an easy way to open their first conversation. At Evensteer, your team approves every pair before a single introduction goes out under your name.