The reduction in working hours is soon to be compulsory for all businesses in France - the challenge is how to implement it. With strong ambitions and in a complex context, this company drove an action-oriented approach with BPI at its side… experience to capitalise on.

Context
A Proactive Project
Eighteen months before the second law on the reduction of working hours was to become applicable in France, this major leisure hotel chain undertook a participative approach to reflections on the reduction and rearrangement of working hours. After eight months of maturation, and one change of management, the company solicited BPI in order to benefit from our experience in implementing the 35-hour work week, and our capacity to "get things moving" to speed up the process.

Task
Negotiations - Piloting a Key Step
BPI consultants analysed the proposals in the field with their instigators.
Most proposals were relevant. In particular, they approved the suggestion of offering permanent contracts with annualisation of hours, grouping together the summer and winter seasons, to employees willing to work on two different sites. As half of the company's staff are seasonal workers, reducing job insecurity is a major preoccupation.
By giving weight to the agreements undertaken under the previous management team, the approach created a context that was favourable for negotiation. As meetings between management and unions progressed, the consultants verified the feasibility of elements of the agreement, and prepared to formalise them. The consultants handled the link with the Ministry of Employment - during this transition period, assignment of subsidies is negotiated at national level for multi-site projects.

Organisation: Providing the Necessary Tools
Once the agreement was signed, each line manager took part in a day organised in two stages - providing employee information tools, and group training in preparing the new work organisation. A hundred people in total participated in the different sessions organised. In parallel, BPI helped adapt the company's IT tools for HR management.

In Practice: Detecting Problems and Providing Solutions
On certain representative sites, consultants provided local coaching for the line managers they had trained. Their presence in the field enabled the management to be informed of any questions left unanswered and also the regular transmission of details required for implementation of the 35-hour work week to the management.

Perspectives
Going Further
The taking into account of difficulties experienced in the field corresponded to union expectations, and supported the climate of confidence created when the agreement was signed. With a 7% new-hire rate, and a 17% increase in the number of permanent contracts, the switch to the 35-hour work week has been a true vector for change. The management's new challenge is to set up more productive organisations. With BPI's support, the company intends to start with its own services at headquarters.