Learn Assembly Papers gives a voice to innovative learning companies, bringing dynamism, creativity and new initatives to the industry. Interview with David Rivoire, co-founder of the Social Bar and École de la convivialité.
The genesis of the École de la convivialité goes back to an observation my partner Renaud Seligmann and I made about the disintegration of social ties. We observed that bars, which are traditionally places for socializing, were no longer fully fulfilling their role as creators of social ties. This gave rise to the idea of creating a bar focused on conviviality, which we called the Social Bar. In this bar, we put in place what we call conviviality activators, inspired by nudges, to facilitate and reinforce social interaction. And a job: friendliness agent! The project was a real success, enabling us to create more lasting social bonds. Building on this experience, we launched a research laboratory to conduct studies on how to recreate social ties. Finally, we decided to offer tailor-made services to organizations to help them develop a culture of conviviality. From the need to send our agents to our customers sites, came the idea of creating our own learning organization in 2021: l’école de la convivialité. Today, we have around a hundred friendliness agents.
In concrete terms, l’École de la Convivialité is a learning center dedicated to the transmission of conviviality skills. Our profession of friendliness agent is a great way of integrating people, accessible to all with no pre-requisites. We focus on teaching people how to build a network, self-confidence and the posture of joy and conviviality, which we believe is the essential ingredient of a good day out. In this way, you can take back control of your daily life, moving from a day of suffering to a day of joy. We began training our own staff with specific programs, particularly for Social Bar employees, to reinforce their conviviality skills. Then we gradually diversified and opened up our learning programs, offering short, tailor-made courses lasting from 0.5 to 3 days, adapted to all professional sectors. These courses focus on postures and practical ways of bringing friendliness into everyday working life.
We also offer on-the-job training courses that enable our customers to recruit, integrate and train in a different way: this is on-the-job training, which is ideal for people who are far from employment.
For example, we’re working on the subject of friendly security guards, because we believe that a friendly, welcoming attitude helps to prevent tension and promotes a secure and, frankly, nicer environment. We are also working with partners such as the UMIH Hauts-de-France, which has a hiring project involving 100 new hires on professionalization contracts using reverse VAE (Validation of Prior Learning).
The courses take place in a work situation, i.e. directly in the host company, with a dedicated skills trainer from l’école de la convivialité who coaches both the learner and the company (managers, tutors, colleagues). The program takes place in short sessions, with assessments every 15 days. It’s an individual journey, the stages of which are unknown in advance. The course can potentially culminate in a VAE jury to obtain a diploma. This year, we aim to train between 500 and 1000 people. A concrete example of our action is the “Touchatoux” program we set up for the village of Montrieux (www.montrieux.org), aimed at young people who are far from employment in the hotel and catering industry. It enables them to obtain a multi-skilled vocational qualification (and potentially a professional title through VAE) thanks to the tailor-made support provided by the program… A friendly environment, versatility and on-the-job training: candidates are attracted by these three aspects.
When we talk about innovation, we think of AI and digital technology, whereas innovation also means reviving and enhancing age-old practices such as on-the-job-training, which has always existed, since companionship. The addition of theory to on-the-job learning programs, thanks to digitalization leads to a very powerful instructional concept. This is where learning innovation lies.
Learn Assembly is a hybrid consulting firm created in 2013 to support the transformation of all those involved in learning and employment. Our mission is to help them play a strategic role in their organizations to meet the challenges of skills in a context of environmental transition and technological transformation. We support the general management and L&D departments of major groups, public bodies and higher education institutions in their strategic development.
