The Rhapsodie programme – an innovative approach combining projects to develop the HR function and the creation of an HR information system

Rhapsodie reinforces the performance of the HR function to serve management. It supports the organisational evolution of HR with a view to empowering and professionalising local actors by giving the RATP (45,000 employees, 20 operational and support departments) a unique, integrated HRIS to replace dozens of obsolete, complex tools.

Initiated in 2001, with a strong participatory approach to the general and detailed design, the Rhapsodie programme has gone through several operational stages: in 2003, the opening of the Training IS; between 2003 and 2006, the development of HR management tools meeting the needs of management; in 2007, the creation of an HR service centre pooling the management of 11 departments; and making bonuses monthly in 2006.

The introduction of the new HRIS in January 2008 has been the major event of the programme (functional coverage: from recruitment to leaving the company, through career management, payroll, time management etc.) in terms of the complexity of the exercise (over 100 interfaces) and the real change in working practices for the teams. The last stage is for the local HR teams to take over payroll operations in a phased deployment between 2008 and 2009.

A project that requires close cooperation between the actors concerned

- Emphasising simultaneous evolution in working practices and in the system, with positive acceptance of change, targeting productivity.

- Building on a strong participatory process both for the design of the tool and for managing organisational change.

- Integrating the ownership and management of the project in a tight "project team" working for the same goals.

- Developing services for management based on improved tools for decision support and supervision (staffing, pay etc.)

- Experimenting to measure feasibility and evaluate the results at each stage, bringing together the actors affected by the changes.

Support, training and social dialogue have been the strengths of the programme since its launch, because these evolutions in organisational change require close support to be provided for everyone involved.

Synergence's mission, close operational support

From the communication strategy to the design and implementation of action plans, Synergence has designed communication tools, either cross-disciplinary or specific to certain projects. The mission has therefore often had an extremely operational dimension (designing newsletters, events, portals, seminars, explanatory leaflets, feedback forms...).

A strong principle has been to involve HR managers in each sector as early as possible, sharing the issues of the programme with the HR function and management, communicating the results to demonstrate the benefits of the programme and supporting each department supervisor in operational terms.

The Synergence team has thus been completely integrated with the programme team for four years, together with the support service providers for the IT system project management. Confirmation that communication plans only fully bear fruit in operational support that is as close as possible to the daily concerns of the client.

The mission is now entering its final months. The new IT system was launched on 7 January. Initial results are good, support for the HR teams is in full swing and communication of the balance sheet and income statement has been strengthened. The first deployment of local responsibility for payroll will begin in October 2008.

More information: www.ratp.fr

Keywords: HR – information system

Written on 2 May 2008