THE L.A.B

By 2030, 2/3 of jobs will be based on non-technical skills*, particularly in jobs in short supply. In comparison, it was 1/2 in 2000.  In other words, by 2030, the most desirable skills will no longer be "hard skills", but rather "non-technical", difficult to automate, i.e. the famous "soft skills". The reason is mostly due to the constant evolution of AI that forces employees to regularly update their technical skills and improve what can never be automated (flexibility, innovation, creativity, emotional intelligence, etc). According to the OECD this phenomenon is far from local:it concerns all countries in the world.

Not surprisingly, according to a survey conducted by TTI Success Insights, soft skills is the 2nd selection criterion after diploma.  Also, OECD studies showed that soft-skills are the more predictable skills asset for professional success.

More pragmatically, this change is already taking place at various levels. 

On one hand, a study (Albandea et al. 2020) conducted among recruiters it appears that when the soft skills is highlighted in the CV, recruiters give an average of 11 extra points (the average score being 67 points out of 100), whatever the background and characteristics of the graduate, or the sector of activity. It also showed that Students who declare that they have developed their soft-skills during their education have an increased probability of finding a job, under equal conditions (age, gender and field of training).

On the other hand, while the number of vacancies advertised rose by 31%, the number of applications fell by 51% (Michael Page, 2019).This shows that candidates are limiting themselves in terms of their chances of landing a job. Lacking the technical skills mentioned above, students no longer try their luck. Yet 62% of managers and executives with managerial responsibilities are prepared to recruit a candidate primarily on the basis of behavioral skills.

It is this disparity that the solution seeks to bridge by establishing a diagnosis of soft skills and then making recommendations for their development. The use of the solution thus strengthens students' skills and their self-confidence with a view to their integration into the professional environment.

THE L.A.B is a unique and turnkey solution to increase student's career opportunities.

What is it ?

The platform combines several functions:

- Sore Skill Scan: measures core skills, amounting to 25 (concentration, empathy, risk tolerance, innovation, etc.) thanks to 20 different scans. This test indicates the individual's level at different stages of progress.

- Recommendation of e-learning training courses. To date, 6 modules are available (e.g. communication, decision-making, self-awareness, etc.). All of the training modules based on educational neuroscience, integrating pedagogical strategies aligned with brain function, thus promoting more effective skills acquisition

 - A set of tools to manage individual and group learning paths for users, whether students or teaching teams: providing a range of statistics and information on student performance

What does it do? 

The LAB is a 4 in 1 plateform :

- clarify the soft skills that are missing: assessment of each student's soft skills, to make them aware of the skills they lack to succeed in their chosen field.

- Offer a personalized and adapted learning : developing the soft skills students need to succeed in their careers.

- Map all of students' soft skills: Getting data on the skills developed within each course that matches the professional qualifications required.

- Maintain certifications every year: Creation of a tailor-made program for all courses, according to the soft skills requirements of the job market.

How it works ?

Rising Up's ambition is to provide higher education establishments with a digital learning platform based on the latest advances in cognitive science, enabling them to manage students' soft skills throughout their course.

Aware that the deployment and adoption of digital tools in the student environment are often limiting factors and sources of failure, Rising Up assists establishments at every stage of the process, supporting both teaching teams and students. This includes the development and implementation of appropriate communication tools and actions and effective, to ensure that students fully appreciate the stakes involved in using the proposed tool and the benefits expected to ensure their commitment over time.

The solution is offered as a SaaS model in B2B2C : the solution is marketed to a higher education establishment, which takes out a subscription for internal users, students and teaching staff.

The motivation for creating this company is based on two major societal issues  One is economic: the guarantee of an individual's employability, the other is profoundly social : give everyone an equal chance to succeed. Why ? 

Because

First of all, higher education is evolving to meet the changing needs of students and the workforce. According to a Morning consult study, 59% of Generation Z adults are questioning classic university curricula to build them a bright future. How can we offer them a good education that matches their expectations, and train them in the right skills required to succeed in the job market?

Secondly, in the labor market, employers are turning to upskilling and reskilling programs to address the skills shortage and improve employee retention. Numerous surveys have revealed that most of the time young graduates leave before their probationary period is over is due to a lack of soft skills. How can students and employers alike ensure that what they’re learning will lead them toward their desired goals?  

 Our solution is to close the skills gap for students in two steps: identify the missing skills and fill the gap according to their needs. This will help them develop their careers and open up more job opportunities, adn succeed in the choosen field.

In sum, Rising Up's solution will help students to navigate the job market more serenely. Vacancies will therefore be filled, contributing to the development of educational institutions by complementing an essential aspect previously absent.

After 10 years teaching at university for Nawal and 3 years at a business school for Hicham, they realized that their students lacked knowledge of soft skills. Their students still didn't know how to talk about their soft skills, how to develop them and how to describe them to employers. Which for Nawal and Hicham was a real waste, because student were not able to exploit their potential because nobody taught them. 

As a result, they lack self-confidence, have difficulty finding an internship or a first job. But above all, they end up excluded from job opportunities and don't leave with the same chances as others for a successful career. 

That why we decided to build the first solution to solve this problem: close the soft skill gap to reduce unemployment and the number of unfilled jobs.

Hicham Abboub, Managing Director of Rising Up and Technical Manager, brings

- Operational skills to supervise a technical team of developers, designers and data scientists for the development of a SaaS platform, algorithms, infrastructure and databases.

- Advanced marketing skills to develop communication strategies aimed at supporting education professionals during key moments in the tool's deployment. 
- Legal skills to protect Rising Up's know-how and the associated trademark registration.
- Managerial skills to manage the Rising Up team and maintain team performance.

Nawal Abboub, Scientific Manager and cognitive science researcher, brings

- Operational skills for developing and implementing cognitive science research protocols .

- In-depth understanding of the neuroscientific principles underlying basic skills in order to design accurate cognitive scans based on advanced neurological and psychological models.

- Advanced psychometric skills to accurately measure skill level, using factor analysis techniques to break down complex skills into measurable components, providing a nuanced and thorough assessment.

- Design of training modules based on educational neuroscience, integrating pedagogical strategies aligned with brain function, thus promoting more effective acquisition of skills

- Thorough understanding of the psychological and moral context underlying altruistic and effective acts at societal level (see recent publication co-authored by Nawal Abboub).

Rising Up, established in February 2017, initially embarked on a dual mission in corporate consulting: providing support, particularly for managers and leaders, to enhance their soft skills. Over time, our focus has sharpened into two distinct areas:

- Corporate Manager Training: Since its creation, Rising Up has carried out numerous missions for leading corporate groups such as Orange, Orange Business Services, SNCF, Google, Adobe Marketing, Carlex, or Michelin. We've accompanied over 100 managers in Orange and Orange Business Services alone, along with significant engagements with other industry leaders.

- Student Training in Educational Institutions: From 2021 onwards, Rising Up has ventured into school partnerships to train students, nurturing their soft skills for professional success. Our inaugural contract with Sorbonne University in April 2022 marked the beginning of this journey, followed by collaborations with prestigious private school groups (bachelor, master degree, etc).

In the initial three years, Rising Up played a pivotal role in developing tools within a digital learning platform known as THE L.A.B:

- We designed and validated the first prototype of our first soft skills enhance product, the "Soft Skills Enhance" range, for corporate customers from 2020 to 2022.

- The "Soft Skill Scan" prototyping phase began in 2021, first for corporate public, then for students from 2022 onwards. By the end of 2023, our Soft Skill Scan included almost 20 complete tests.

How Rising up is growing up ?

 Until 2022, Rising Up found it difficult to grow its business due to manual processes and the difficulty of managing multiple users and accounts simultaneously. However, over the past two years, the company has automated many tasks, improved its database management and its infrastructure in order to manage several thousand connections simultaneously.

 In 2023, Rising Up received €75k in funding from the European Commission's Deeptech EU program, facilitating its expansion across Europe and particularly in the Scandinavian market.  The company develop key functionalities, particularly a communication space (administrator access) for its customers. This automation has enabled Rising Up to manage several simultaneously and enhance forecasting models by analyzing a larger volume of data. However, there is still a lot of challenge such as brand awarness, sales process, and scale the technology. 

First of all, Rising Up is a deeptech company in a growth phase, which represents a major challenge, because with my university background and an immature market, this context requires a specialized support system. This program, renowned for nurturing technology leaders, is a perfect match for my aspirations, which are to improve my leadership skills, acquire strategic knowledge and expand my professional network.

Also, I aim to leverage the program's resources to address critical challenges such as stakeholder buy-in, industry network development, and talent recruitment. The mentorship, workshops, and networking opportunities provided will be instrumental in refining our business strategy, navigating industry dynamics, and fostering collaborations. I am eager to learn from successful leaders who have navigated similar paths.

Then finally, the notoriety, this is an extraordinary way to put the company in the spotlight, which reassures our clients, prospect and investors or business angels.

To assess soft skill, personality tests was the only tools to complement assessments of technical skills. For example, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test is widely used to classify individuals into 16 personalities, using a questionnaire. Measures of soft skills also often include the Big Five personality traits, which consist of: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. 

With the evolution of scientific knowledge, it appears that genetics plays a role in the notion of personality. Personality is therefore the sum of innate but also acquired components, as the individual interacts with the environment. While the genetic component cannot be modified, the acquired component can be modified through training.

However, even if these tests shed light on an individual's personality, they don't specifically test the soft skills that can be learned. Not only that, but the definitions of personality traits and/or soft skills used in these tests are not adapted to the realities of the job market, making them difficult to use for students.

To access this issues and stand out from the crowd, Rising up focuses on 5 key elements:

1. A skills benchmark in line with the needs of the job market: a single skills benchmark will enable students and schools to assess their level of soft skills in relation to the expectations of the job in question. As the individual progresses, he or she will be brought up to the expected levels of soft skills, which will facilitate professional integration.

  
2. A solution entirely focused on soft skills: while other players also integrate personality tests, Rising Up has focused all its technical and scientific research on soft skills alone. This enables the solution to be more precise, calibrated and relevant in assessing soft skills according to the latest advances in cognitive science.

3. Customized training: The training offered by Rising up takes a 360° view of soft skills. In fact, the training will target weak points and missing soft skills, and propose customized modules to fill the gaps identified. 

4. Significant impact on a large scale: By taking stock of students' skills, schools can monitor how these skills are progressing. Schools can also improve their training programs based on this data. Ultimately, this makes it possible to pilot a training program with precise data, and increase pedagogical efficiency.

5. Local support for adoption and use of the solution: Rising Up provides ongoing support to help educational teams make the solution attractive and its benefits clear. With a wealth of experience in communications and event organization, Rising Up offers communication campaigns designed to facilitate adoption and understanding of the solution. These campaigns take place at key moments in students' lives, notably at the beginning and end of the year, when they are looking for internships or making the transition to another level. This strategic approach guarantees student commitment, maximizes the benefits of the program and ensures close monitoring of metrics. 

We are strengthening the skills that will improve access to employment and career success.

Why ?

The rise of new technologies has quickly made the pure and hard technical skills acquired through studies and professional experience obsolete. Project management, English, programming and computer skills have become prerequisites, but no longer eternal assets that would last in a company over the long term.

- the life span of a technical skill is rapidly decreasing. It is only 2.5 years nowadays.

- we have more than 27% of new jobs in 2022 and a context of constant change,

This phenomenon forces employees to regularly update their technical skills. and raise the importance of soft-skills development. According to a survey conducted by TTI Success Insights, soft skills are increasingly becoming a determining factor in recruitment 

- 62% of managers and executives with managerial responsibilities are indeed ready to recruit a candidate mainly on his or her behavioral skills today.

- This figure even reaches 72% among marketing and digital managers, who are particularly impacted by technology-related transformations.

However, how can they be identified and developed effectively before entering the job market ?

On one hand, these transversal skills are considered to be much more "fragile" than hard skills, and doubts are also expressed about the nature of these skills. Are they innate personality traits? Or are they skills that can be improved through learning?

Doubts are also expressed about the validity of the methods currently available to evaluate and develop them. Often, such training is very expensive, but its effectiveness is little or not at all evaluated (Laker & Powell, 2011). In addition, many parameters linked to environmental contexts, such as culture, history, profession and language, are not taken into account, which can have a negative impact on program implementation and effectiveness (Levant et al., 2016).

 All of this arguments limits its widespread use in the education system

That why, our solution will impact inclusion and help people to find the right job and raise their employability’s with an accurate scientific method.

How ?

We assess and close the soft skills gap while measuring our impact through precise performance indicators.

We are also attentive to take into account that Rising Up technology avoid introducing new biases, related to the algorithms themselves, in the way we identify skills , in the selection of talent, in line with with a responsible digital world.

Rising up's ambition is to offer higher education establishments a digital learning platform based on the latest advances in cognitive science, enabling them to manage students' soft skills throughout their training. 

Rising Up operates according to the following impact goal, both in the management of in-house operations and in the design of the deployed solution:
1. Combine fundamental research with applicative projects to bridge the science-societal gap. 

2. Promote inclusion and diversity of backgrounds, in line with the ambition of the MIT solve; UN Sustainable Development Goals  

3. Emphasize behavioral skills, as opposed to technical skills, which quickly become obsolete.

4. Avoid introducing new biases, linked to the algorithms themselves, in the identification of skills and the selection of talent, in line with a responsible digital world. 

5. Facilitates access to employment for youth

Our technology is the first SAAS, all-in-one plateform to access, enrich, map and certificate soft skills.

At the heart of our technology we follow an evidence-based learning design, we are using the framework employed by industry giants such as Facebook, utilizing cutting-edge technologies like React and Node.js. This ensures that our platform remains not only robust but also adaptable to evolving needs and industry standards, positioning us at the forefront of innovation.

Since 2 years now, we scale from 30 users/schools to 2000 users /schools

MVP Use case :

A top business school, ask us to scan and trained 2000 students in the same time across 8 city in France.

Our technology is ready to go further. We know that we can step up our MVP to a larger scale in Europe.

We run several evaluation of the program (before/after) :

*KPI : knowledge

- 94 % increase of knowledge of their own soft-skills after the program

- clarity of soft skills concept before was 1.9/5 and at the end 4.5/5

*KPI : employabiliy

- 97 % of student find a job/internship 2 months after our program

- 86 % increase of job interview, after adding their soft-skills in their CV

KPI satisfaction : 4,8

Here is some testimonial from our clients :

Full-time staff : 2

part-time staff : 4 

Partnership with 3 universities

For 7 years we have been developing THE L.A.B

We have recrutement policies based on skills assessment and nothing else. We all came from diversity (Algeria, Italy, Argentina, Georgia, U.S, Germany, Japan and France).

Our team is made up of almost 50% women and 50% men, and they are the best candidates We've ever seen.

At Rising Up, we all are in remote work, we decided to stay like this after the covid situation in 2020.

Also, Rising Up products can help promote inclusion and diversity of paths, diversity of backgrounds, which is perfectly in line with the ambition of MIT Solve’s commitment. 

The solution is offered as a B2B2C SaaS model: the solution is marketed to a higher education establishment, which takes out a subscription for internal users, students and teaching staff.

Two types of revenue are expected:

Support and customization: a fixed amount, invoiced annually for setting up the tool and upgrades, support for teaching teams, and communication campaigns aimed at students to ensure commitment and use of the tool.

Subscription: a monthly subscription fee is charged for each user.

Several offers are available, with prices tailored to the target establishments and the functionalities deployed:

Basic: Scan students' soft skills, from €59/user

an assessment for each student to make them aware of the skills they lack to succeed in their chosen industry.

Advanced: Student soft skills scan and improvement, €89/user

An assessment for each student to identify the skills they lack with specific enrichment based on this assessment to ensure career success.

We've been profitable since the first year of Rising Up's existence. We have invested every year with our own funds to develop the technology. It wasn't until 2023 that we obtained a grant from the European Innovation Council (75 K€) for deeptech to accelerate our development and export abroad. 
Our model will continue in this form.