Mentoring Agreement Template: Set Clear Expectations Before You Begin

A company mentoring agreement sets out the shared commitments, responsibilities and boundaries expected of mentors and mentees across a program. It covers preparation, respectful communication, confidentiality and how to seek support. The template below gives program admins a starting point for their organisation’s agreement.

Before starting a mentoring relationship, it is worth agreeing on a few dos and don’ts. What will each person prepare? How will feedback be shared? What should remain confidential, and which boundaries need to be respected? Discussing these expectations together helps mentors and mentees build a relationship they both feel comfortable with. The company agreement gives them a common foundation for that conversation, while they discuss individual development goals separately.

These are practical choices. A mentee might welcome direct feedback but prefer to discuss sensitive topics privately rather than include them in shared notes. A mentor might be happy to review a presentation before a session, provided there is enough time to read it. Agreeing on these details early helps each person understand what the other needs.

Keep it brief enough to use. Use clear wording that mentors and mentees can read, understand and follow throughout the program.

For HR teams, that starts with a useful common template. On the Mentorgain platform, program admins can use the mentoring agreement template or customize it for their organisation. This is an organisation-wide agreement, rather than a form customized with individual mentor and mentee names. Pairs can discuss their own goals and working arrangements separately.

What belongs in a mentoring agreement

Think about what you would want to know before investing time in a new development relationship. You would probably want a sense of its purpose, a realistic schedule and some confidence about how your information will be treated.

The company agreement should explain the program’s purpose, mentor and mentee responsibilities, expectations for meetings, confidentiality boundaries and routes for feedback or rematching. Individual names, personal goals and partnership dates do not need to be part of this shared document.

This approach is well established. The US Office of Personnel Management’s September 2008 guide, Best Practices: Mentoring, recommends documenting roles, meeting commitments, confidentiality and arrangements for ending the agreement.

Program admins can adapt the following one-page template, confirm that it reflects company policies and share the agreed wording with participants. Mentors and mentees should understand these commitments before beginning their sessions.

Company mentoring agreement template

Program admins can adapt the bracketed policy references before sharing this agreement across the organisation. The wording uses only the roles of mentor and mentee.

Mentorship agreement

A shared commitment between mentor and mentee

Purpose
This agreement sets out the expectations for a productive and respectful mentoring relationship within the organisation. Mentoring supports learning and professional development. Individual goals are discussed separately by the mentor and mentee.

What both mentor and mentee commit to

• Treat each other with respect and recognise that both have something to learn and offer.
• Arrive prepared and on time for scheduled sessions.
• Communicate openly, listen carefully and give constructive feedback.
• Respect each other’s time, boundaries and professional commitments.
• Follow the confidentiality and reporting requirements described below.

Mentor responsibilities
The mentor will listen, share relevant experience, ask useful questions and provide constructive guidance. The mentor will support the mentee’s thinking and development without promising a promotion, a role change or a particular career outcome.

Mentee responsibilities
The mentee will identify development priorities, prepare questions or topics, take responsibility for agreed actions and reflect on progress. The mentee will discuss meeting arrangements with the mentor and follow the program’s scheduling guidance.

Confidentiality and boundaries
The mentor and mentee will keep discussions private, subject to [company confidentiality policy and applicable reporting obligations]. Participants will clarify reporting duties before sensitive discussions. Notes and records must follow [access and retention policy]. Recording or AI transcription requires prior agreement and company approval where required.

Meetings, feedback and support
The mentor and mentee will agree on a workable meeting schedule within program requirements, give notice when rescheduling and communicate if the arrangement is not working. For repeated missed meetings, concerns, a pause or rematching, either participant may contact [program support channel]. Concerns may be raised privately.

Review and closure
The mentor and mentee will periodically discuss progress and whether their working arrangements remain useful. At closure, they will reflect on learning and agree on appropriate next steps within program guidance.

Acceptance
By accepting this agreement, the participant confirms that they have read and understood the responsibilities that apply to their role as mentor or mentee.

The organisation should review this wording against its policies before use. Individual participant names and signature fields are not part of this template.

Example of a company mentoring agreement

The example below shows how the template could read once an organisation has agreed its wording. It applies across the program and refers to participants by role. Company-specific policies and support routes should be confirmed before adoption.

Mentorship agreement

A shared commitment between mentor and mentee

Purpose
Our mentoring program supports professional learning through respectful conversations, shared experience and practical reflection. This agreement explains the commitments expected of every mentor and mentee. Development priorities and meeting arrangements are discussed separately within these expectations.

Shared commitments
The mentor and mentee will treat each other with respect, arrive prepared for sessions and communicate honestly and constructively. Both will respect professional boundaries and give reasonable notice when a meeting needs to be rescheduled.

The mentor’s role
The mentor will listen, ask questions, share relevant experience and offer feedback that helps the mentee consider options. The mentor will be clear about the support they can provide. Mentoring does not guarantee promotion, a new role or access to a particular opportunity.

The mentee’s role
The mentee will bring development priorities and relevant questions to sessions, follow through on agreed actions and reflect on learning. The mentee will communicate when their needs or availability change.

Confidentiality and records
The mentor and mentee will keep discussions private within the organisation’s confidentiality policies and applicable obligations. Any reporting duties will be clarified before sensitive information is shared. Program records will contain only information appropriate under company policy. Recording and AI transcription require prior agreement and any necessary company approval.

Meetings, feedback and rematching
The mentor and mentee will agree on a practical meeting schedule and raise concerns early. Either participant may contact the program admin privately for support, a pause or a rematch. A joint conversation is optional where a participant feels uncomfortable or unsafe.

Review and closure
The mentor and mentee will check whether sessions remain useful, discuss progress towards development priorities and reflect on learning when the relationship closes. Any continuation will follow program guidance.

Acceptance
By accepting this agreement, the participant confirms that they have read and understood the commitments and responsibilities that apply to their role as mentor or mentee.

Start with a goal you can work on together

“I want to become a better leader” is a reasonable ambition to bring to a mentoring conversation. It is harder to use when deciding what to discuss next Tuesday.

A mentor can help the mentee narrow that ambition to a situation they face at work. Perhaps they hesitate to delegate, struggle to make a recommendation in project meetings or want to handle disagreement more confidently. Once the situation is clear, the pair can choose something to practise and evidence to review.

The company agreement establishes the expectation that mentoring has a development purpose. The pair then discusses what that means in practice. For example, a mentee who wants to lead project discussions more clearly could bring an update to rehearse with the mentor. That personal goal belongs in the development conversation or goal record, rather than the company agreement.

Choose one or two priorities at the start. You can add another once there is progress. A long list makes it harder to decide where a limited amount of mentoring time will help most.

It also helps to distinguish what the pair can influence from what they cannot promise. A mentor can help someone prepare for greater responsibility. A promotion still depends on decisions and circumstances beyond the mentoring relationship.

Make the commitment fit a real working week

A meeting schedule only helps if both people can sustain it. Before agreeing to fortnightly sessions, discuss preparation, busy periods, time zones and how much contact is reasonable between meetings.

For some pairs, a focused monthly conversation with a short agenda will be workable. Others may need more frequent contact while practising a particular skill. Discuss who books meetings and what happens when work gets in the way. These practical arrangements can be recorded separately from the shared company agreement.

Preparation deserves the same attention. A mentee who sends a project example beforehand gives the mentor time to consider it. A mentor who asks for questions in advance should make time to read them. These small commitments make the agreement useful in everyday practice.

If participants are unsure how to set expectations without making the conversation awkward, let them practise during orientation. Our mentor training program guide explains how preparation can include goal setting, boundaries and running a session.

Talk about confidentiality before it becomes a concern

A mentee may want to discuss a difficult relationship with their manager or uncertainty about their next career move. Before they do, they need to understand who might learn about that conversation.

An agreement should explain what stays private, what HR receives and whether either participant has responsibilities that could require disclosure. If the mentor also contributes to the mentee’s performance review, that role deserves an explicit conversation at the start.

SUNY Geneseo’s Faculty Mentoring Resource Guide advises pairs to clarify confidentiality, discuss conflicts of interest and identify situations where disclosure may be necessary.

For a workplace program, HR should provide wording that reflects the organisation’s policies and applicable obligations. Participants should know where to take concerns involving harassment, discrimination or safety, and whether their role carries a reporting duty. A general promise that everything is confidential leaves too much unanswered.

Keep the distinction between program records and private discussion clear. A coordinator may need to know that a pair has met or requested support. That does not mean every personal detail belongs in a session summary. Discuss access to notes and uploaded documents, and agree on recording or AI transcription before either is used.

One useful question to ask before a sensitive discussion is: “Is there anything about your role that means you would need to share this information?”

Give the relationship room to change

A company agreement provides consistent expectations, but each relationship still needs room for changes in workload, priorities or fit. During program check-ins, ask whether the working arrangements still help both people. Changes to individual goals or meeting preferences do not require a new company agreement.

Suppose a pair has met three times, but every conversation has become an urgent project update. The mentee’s original goal was to practise influencing skills. A brief review gives them a reason to say, “Could we spend the next session working through a stakeholder conversation instead?” That is useful feedback, and it is easier to raise when the pair has already agreed to check in.

Missed meetings need a similarly practical response. One cancellation may simply require a new date. Repeated cancellations may call for a different schedule, a pause or help from the coordinator. Agree on a point at which someone will follow up, so the relationship does not quietly disappear from both calendars.

Sometimes a different match is the right next step. Make the contact route clear and allow either participant to raise a concern privately. A joint conversation should be optional when someone feels uncomfortable. OPM’s September 2008 guidance also recommends a process for ending an unsuccessful match amicably and considering a more suitable pairing.

How HR can make agreements useful across a program

For an individual pair, the agreement is a reference point. For a program admin, it is a way to give participants consistent expectations without deciding every detail of their relationship.

Start by setting the parts that should be common across the organisation, such as confidentiality wording, reporting routes and the process for requesting a rematch. Leave space for pairs to discuss their goals, preparation and meeting preferences within the program’s requirements.

On Mentorgain, program admins can use the mentoring agreement template or customize its content for their organisation. The agreement appears in a standard format under the organisation’s name. It is not customized with individual mentor or mentee names. Pair-specific goals and meeting preferences can be discussed separately.

Introduce the company agreement during orientation and make the acceptance process clear. On Mentorgain, the mentee reads and accepts the agreement before booking an introductory session. The first meeting can then focus on development priorities and working arrangements within those shared commitments.

That follow-through can sit within the wider program experience. Mentorgain’s journeys and tasks support development goals and actions, while reporting and surveys help collect participant feedback. HR teams can use check-ins to ask whether meetings are happening, goals remain relevant and support is needed.

Keep those questions focused. “Have you been able to meet?” and “Would you like help adjusting the arrangement?” give the coordinator something useful to act on. Asking for detailed accounts of personal conversations can undermine the boundaries the agreement was meant to establish.

Before launching a cohort, review and agree the company wording, make the support route easy to find and explain the commitments during orientation. Invite participants to ask questions so that acceptance reflects an understanding of what is expected.

If you are planning this process across your organisation, talk to Mentorgain about your mentoring program.

How a sample agreement appears on Mentorgain

The screenshot below shows how a sample company mentoring agreement appears on Mentorgain before a mentee books an introductory session. The mentee is prompted to read the agreement, scroll to the bottom and accept it before continuing. The organisation name has been replaced with a placeholder for this illustration.

Frequently asked questions

What is a mentoring agreement?

A company mentoring agreement sets out shared expectations for mentors and mentees across a program. It covers responsibilities, conduct, preparation, confidentiality and support. Personal goals and meeting arrangements are discussed separately.

When should participants accept the agreement?

Participants should understand the company agreement before starting mentoring sessions. On Mentorgain, the mentee reads and accepts it before booking an introductory session. Individual development goals can be discussed during that session.

How long should a mentoring agreement be?

One page can be a useful starting point for the organisation’s shared commitments. Include enough detail to explain responsibilities, boundaries and support routes, with references to company policies where needed. Clarity matters more than a fixed length.

How often should mentors and mentees meet?

Choose a frequency that fits the goal and both people’s availability. Monthly meetings may suit an ongoing development relationship; a short, focused goal may benefit from more frequent contact. Include preparation time when agreeing on the commitment.

Does a mentoring agreement make everything confidential?

No. The agreement should explain confidentiality expectations and their limits, including relevant organisational policies, reporting duties and access to records. Clarify these before sharing sensitive information.

Can program admins customize mentoring agreements on Mentorgain?

Yes. On Mentorgain, program admins can use the mentoring agreement template or customize it for their organisation. They can align the wording with the program’s purpose, expectations and organisational requirements. This customization is at the organisation level, not by individual mentor or mentee name.