Instructional Strategy
Commercial Onboarding | One Global Onboarding Strategy, Multiple Paths
I designed a first-year onboarding strategy for Mars’ global Commercial function. The challenge was to decide what everyone should experience and where the guidance needed to differ. The strategy supported Associates across six job families, gave line managers a path to help new hires, and later extended to senior leaders.
Set shared milestones.
Tailor the guidance.
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I organized the first year into four stages so teams had a common way to talk about onboarding progress. Within that structure, I tailored objectives, activities, and resources to the work Associates would do in each job family.
Design for the people doing, supporting, and leading the work.
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Associates needed to know what to do next. Line managers needed guidance on how to support them. A dedicated senior leader pathway let us address the needs of leaders entering Commercial within the same broader onboarding strategy.
Preserve the experience through a platform change.
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When the delivery plan shifted away from an LXP, I kept two ways to use the program: a guided experience for someone just starting and direct access to the resource library for someone looking for a specific guide, task list, or template.
These samples show how I turned a global onboarding strategy into practical guidance: shared milestones for everyone, resources tailored by job family, and distinct starting points for new Associates, line managers, and senior leaders.
Onboarding on a Page
This guide shows what tailoring looked like for one job family. It uses the same four milestones but gives Supplier Quality Assurance Associates specific objectives, activities, and questions to discuss at each stage.
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