Learning isn’t just about content. It’s about connections. Mentorship is one of the most high-impact ways to build culture, retain talent, and accelerate learning. But when it’s run manually, it often collapses under its own weight.

Many of us in learning and development (L&D) have tried to build a mentorship or social learning programme at some point. The intentions are always good: connect employees with one another to develop skills, gain confidence, and build relationships. But the reality? You're hit with a wall of logistical questions:

• Who should be mentors?
• Who should be mentees?
• What should they talk about?
• How do we schedule meetings?
• How do we ensure people show up?
• How do we measure impact?

 

These aren’t just one-off decisions. They point to deeper challenges in how learning and mentoring actually function within your organisation.

If some groups take significantly longer to complete content, it may signal the need to streamline material or offer more support. It also helps teams identify how much time different departments can realistically dedicate to learning at one time and whether content needs to be broken into smaller chunks.

Patterns like these often reveal inefficiencies in learning and mentoring workflows. When programmes are managed manually or squeezed into someone’s already full workload, they tend to lose structure, scale poorly, and deliver less impact, especially as your organisation grows.

 

Why manual mentorship doesn’t scale

People love to learn from people. But one of the biggest barriers to scaling mentorship is matching people effectively. In a large organisation, trying to pair mentors and mentees manually is a daunting task. The complexity of aligning skills, goals, and preferences for each person makes the process inefficient and prone to mismatches.

Automating the matching process can significantly reduce the administrative burden. Using tools that factor in employee attributes like skills, goals, and preferences helps make the pairing process more efficient and aligned with each individual's needs. Without software, there's no way to streamline this process and ensure everyone is receiving the right guidance and support. This is where the power of technology comes in to save time and improve outcomes.

 

How to make mentorship sustainable

Automation plays a key role in more sustainable mentorship programmes. Tools that generate meeting agendas based on each participant’s goals, roles, and interests remove much of the guesswork. As the mentorship relationship progresses, the system can track meeting notes and ensure continuity by providing reminders and suggestions for follow-up.

And what about the mentors themselves? They’ll often drop off after a few sessions because they’re unsure how to keep the relationship productive. So, automated prompts, agenda suggestions, and reminders help mentors stay engaged and provide clarity on how to contribute meaningfully over time.

In a traditional mentorship setup, especially without clear follow-up, mentors can feel lost or uncertain about their role in the relationship, making it difficult for them to sustain engagement. But with the right tech, the process is more structured and streamlined, leading to long-term commitment from both parties.

The right tools can also integrate with HR systems, making the setup easier and ensuring smooth data flow. Furthermore, mentorship isn't limited to one-on-one interactions. Peer-to-peer learning and informal knowledge-sharing, such as quick exchanges between colleagues in different departments, can be equally valuable.

 

Mentorship that goes beyond one-on-one

Most corporate learning programmes focus only on delivery but miss the human element. This leads to employees spending a lot of time learning, with limited actual impact on their performance, engagement, and career trajectory.

But when mentorship tools are paired with a learning management system (LMS), it becomes an ecosystem of content and connection. Instead of only delivering learning content, the experience becomes about creating connections that bring that content to life. For example, if an employee expresses an interest in developing a specific skill, they could be matched with relevant courses, peers, or mentors who can guide them in that area.

This holistic approach to learning and development creates more meaningful connections and encourages continuous learning within the organisation. And by removing administrative burdens, these systems help mentors and mentees focus on the relationships that truly drive growth.

 

Real results

One example is Randstad Canada, which faced challenges with employee retention and wanted to implement a mentorship programme for its 1,000 employees across the country. Traditional methods were insufficient, so they turned to software to scale their efforts.

With the new platform in place, Randstad was able to launch a programme that matched participants with mentors based on their goals. One participant shared, "Every session feels so short for the amount of wealth and knowledge I get from my mentor. I feel privileged to be part of this."

The result? A 49% reduction in employee turnover.

For most organisations, even a 10-25% drop in turnover is considered impressive. Cutting attrition by nearly half is a strong business outcome.

Another example is Lightspeed, which launched the Change Makers programme to support women in leadership. By using the right tools, they were able to streamline the process and make mentorship more accessible. Within months, half of the mentees had already logged over 100 minutes in sessions, with one mentor logging 750 minutes in a short time frame.

 

Anticipate flexibility and growth

Mentorship programmes should also be highly customisable. For example, administrators should prioritise different factors in the matching process, such as skills development, department, or geographical location, depending on the organisation's specific needs. These systems can also scale from small pilot programmes to larger, more complex mentorship structures. It’s about finding a balance that aligns with both business goals and employee needs.

 

Make mentorship core to your strategy

Mentorship should not be an afterthought. It should be an integral part of an organisation’s learning strategy. When mentorship and learning content are part of the same ecosystem, organisations can create personalised, impactful experiences that foster employee development and retention.

Why? Because when learning is human, it sticks.

 

Leslie Kelley 

Chief Growth Officer at Absorb