Good question!
First of all you have to define what success looks like. The definition will vary from one industry to the next and often times from one organization to the next in the same industry.
Once the organization decides what success looks like the next obvious questions are: how do we measure success and what data do we need to track as an organization in order to measure success on an ongoing basis.
TSF decided early on in our journey our definition of success would be that by the time the young adults we mentor age out (or transition out) of the agencies Independent Living Program (ILA) at 21 years old, they should be working full or part time making a living wage, be able to afford to live on their own, have transportation readily available to and from work, know how to manage a budget, know how to pay their bills on a timely basis and track their credit score on an ongoing basis.
As a result TSF segregated the definition of success into four major categories: 1. FT/PT employment, 2. Educational Achievment, 3. Transportation Independence and 4. Complete TSFs Financial Education/Budget Management program.
To measure success TSF came up a rating methodology between 1 and 5 for each category with 1 being at the early stage of success while 5 means the young adult has accomplished all of their goals and are operating at the highest level of success for a particular category.
The Lead Mentor (LM) for the team sits down with the young adult at the beginning of each quarter, discusses the scoring methodology and assigns a quarterly goal for each 90 day period. At the end of each quarterly period the LM reviews the quarterly results by category with the young adult compared to the mentees goal. The overall results are shared with the entire TSF mentor team on a quarterly basis as well.
Measuring the young adults success has proven to be a very powerful and useful tool for the young adults we mentor.