Development Made Simple: The Story Behind Alcon’s Winning Journey

When Alcon set out to reimagine associate development, they knew they needed a fresh approach – one that felt simple, supportive, and engaging for both associates and managers. Partnering with Enboarder, Jessica Wade, director of digital and associate experience at Alcon, helped create an innovative 10-week journey centered around “Dev,” a lighthearted, relatable persona designed to guide associates through their growth in a way that felt natural, not burdensome.

The thoughtful, human-first design didn’t just resonate internally (even their CEO completed the program!) – it also earned them the “Best Out-of-the-Box Journey” award at Enboarder’s JOY Awards. 

In this Q&A, Jessi shares the story behind Dev, how they brought the journey to life with Enboarder, and why creating a seamless, manager-supported experience was key to their success.

Tell us about your role at Alcon.

I am the director of digital and associate experience at Alcon, the world’s largest eye care company. I oversee that digital experience for our associates, and how technology can influence their overall experience at our company.

Why did you choose to work with Enboarder?

I was approached by our partners in the talent management organization to look at a journey around associate development. We know from our associate survey feedback that development is an area of opportunity for the company, and we wanted to reinforce that the best way to develop is in the flow of your work. 

So we designed a 10-week journey that would allow associates to develop in whatever skill it was that they desired, with the support of their manager and a persona that we designed called Dev.

Tell us about the development journey you built and the feedback you’ve received.

Our initial build was a pilot for about 700 associates and their managers. And initially there was a lot of focus on really making the manager look and feel like a rock star in the support role of the associate. We got so much feedback from the managers, saying, ‘This is working. I’m seeing this helping my associate even after just a 10-week pilot.’

Our program with Dev has become synonymous with development at Alcon. People are already asking, ‘When is Dev going to be back?’ It’s really funny, but the character has taken on a life of its own. The initial qualitative feedback and the completion rates have been really great.

And even your CEO participated?

Yes! Our CEO actually completed the program with our chief HR officer, and it was so great to see him giving her feedback and encouraging her in her development journey. Just seeing this human connection that was being created through this journey was so much fun. And their engagement made it much more impactful across the organization.

How did you come up with the persona ‘Dev’?

Development is always perceived as this extra thing, something else you have to take on. And so we wanted to design something and market it in a way that it didn’t feel hard. We wanted it to be fun.

We talked about how Dev is such a common name, but it’s also a fun play on the term ‘development.’ Dev guides the associate through development in a very relaxed and casual way. 

We leveraged a lot of AI for his imagery and brand identity. We were able to take our content and ask, ‘How would Dev say this?’ And then let Dev tell that story. So that made it more conversational, and he really serves as a coach in addition to the manager’s role in the journey. Dev just brought all of the content to life and made it easier to digest.

Can you share some details about the journey?

In one module we ask the manager to share a story of a time that they failed: ‘Tell me about a time when you messed up. How did you grow? What did you learn?’ It’s a very vulnerable moment. But it also creates such a strong connection. So we leverage the technology in Enboarder to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to help you send this story to your associate. I’ve already got a template ready. Just fill in this little piece.’

They’re able to do that directly from Enboarder. And for the manager, they feel like they’re really  showing up for their associate, but they don’t have to put a lot of extra time into an already packed day. And for the associate, they get these small, digestible chunks of information and support .

We also built in these key moments, where Dev asks, ‘How’s it going? What have you learned so far?’ And then, at the end of the journey, Dev shares a summary of all the progress they’ve made. In all of these moments we leverage Enboarder and this front-end persona, making it as easy as possible.

Read more Enboarder customer stories here!