Develop Your GEPP Action Plan in 6 Steps (+ an example from a plant with 350 employees)

You have been entrusted with the GEPP Action Plan from the site, with a three-year agreement, an age distribution chart, and skills profiles that are more or less up to date. This guide outlines the 6-step method that we’ve seen work at the industrial sites we serve, followed by a completed example from a food processing plant with 350 employees. The downloadable template follows the same structure.

What a GEPP Action Plan Includes

The GEPP action plan translates the findings of the assessment into specific decisions: who trains whom, for which position, and by when. It implements the commitments of the agreement on the job and career management, which companies with at least 300 employees must negotiate at least once every four years.

Each line answers seven questions, and a single empty box is enough to make the line impossible to follow.

The Seven Columns of a Floor Plan

Column	Question	Example
Priority	Where should I start?	P1
Difference	What specific problem are we measuring?	5 Skills Possessed by a Single Person
Action	What should we do?	Train two successors for the position
Population	Who is it for?	5 incumbents, 10 successors
Carrier	Who is accountable?	The team leader for the cooking section
Deadline	When will it be ready?	End of Q3 2027
Performance Indicator	How do we know when it's done?	3 people, each with their own area of expertise

The training plans are then incorporated into your skills development plan, for which the GEPP negotiations establish the broad three-year guidelines (Article L2242-20 of the Labor Code). Our training plan template includes the same columns for issuer, maturity, and indicator.

The 6 Steps to Developing Your GEPP Action Plan

Allow six to eight weeks between the launch and the committee presentation, if your competency data already exists. Steps 1 and 2 take half that time and lend credibility to the plan.

Develop the plan in eight weeks

Click on a step to access it. Steps 1 through 3 make up the diagnosis.

S1S2S3S4S5S6S7S8

Diagnosis

1Collect data

S1 to S2

2Measuring Coverage

S3 to S4

3Classify variances

S5

4Choosing the levers

S6

5Write and date

S7 to S8

6Drive

Then, a one-hour review each quarter, starting when the plan is launched

1. Compile the data item by item

To-do: In two weeks, gather all the information describing each job and the people who hold those positions.

Why: Staff departures, authorizations, and shortages are tracked at the workstation. A department that loses 5 % of its workforce may lose the only person who knows how to start up a production line.

How to:

1. Export the list of positions and, for each one, the evaluated operators along with their levels, from your skills matrix.
2. Add the expiration dates for certifications (CACES, electrical certification, internal authorizations) from your authorization matrix.
3. Record known or expected departures (retirements, contract expirations, transfers) based on the age pyramid.
4. List the projects that will transform jobs within the next three years: a new production line, automation, a new product.
5. Review the minutes of performance reviews regarding career development goals, as well as the reports from the career observatory for your industry.

Deliverable: a single table, with one row per item.

2. Measure the actual coverage for each position

To-do: For each position, count the number of operators who are currently able to handle it on their own.

Why: A matrix that sums all levels shows a favorable rate. On the ILUO scale, which is commonly used in the industry, only the U (self-sufficient) and O (trains others) levels allow for the replacement of an absent employee.

How to:

1. Date each evaluation and, together with the team leader, reassess those that are more than a year old: in the meantime, some skills have been acquired, others lost, and some clearances have expired.
2. Count only the U and O levels, including valid clearances.
3. Set the target: the number of teams plus one person, for a total of 3 independent operators on a 2×8 schedule and 4 on a 3×8 schedule.
4. Identify the skills possessed by a single person.

What factors are considered when filling a position?

On the ILUO scale, only the last two levels allow for an absent employee to be replaced without supervision.

I

In training

Works under supervision and is familiar with safety procedures.

Not counted

L

Execute

Performs the operation under normal conditions, without dealing with unforeseen circumstances.

Not counted

U

Autonomous

Prepares the workstation, manages the startup process, and handles common issues.

Counted

O

Train others

Share the post and suggest improvements.

Counted

3. Rank the discrepancies by priority

To-do: Rate each item on a scale of 1 to 3 based on three criteria, then add up the scores.

Priority Matrix

Criteria	1 point	2 points	3 points
Impact if the position remains unfilled	The team takes it all in	The line is slowing down	The line stops or an audit causes a blockage
Cover	On Target	One person fewer than the target	Two fewer, or just one person
Deadline	Nothing until age three	Leaving or transferring between one and three years	Departure, expiration of authorization, or new route within the year

If the score is 8 or 9, the position is assigned Priority 1. If the score is between 6 and 7, it is assigned Priority 2, and the rest are held until the annual review.

How many lines: We recommend 6 to 10 lines in the first year, so that each presenter can present their work in five minutes during the review.

At this point, your GPEC assessment is complete: a list of ranked positions, each with a quantified gap.

4. Choose a lever for each type of gap

To-do: For each deviation, identify the lever that corrects it most quickly, along with the expected time frame.

Which lever for which gap?

Type of discrepancy	Lever	Estimated time required
An expert is retiring	Permanent Employee and Successor Pair, Formalized Job Instructions	12 to 18 months before departure
A position is in need of independent operators	On-the-job training in AFEST or using the TWI method, during designated time slots	The time it takes to acquire your sector, plus the margin of the peaks
An authorization expires	Scheduled recycling, alert 90 days before the due date	3 months
A new line is transforming workstations	Training program, retraining period if a CQP is sought	Start 6 months before commissioning
A job is in high demand, or an employee wants to advance	Work-study programs and internal career pathways, such as from operations to maintenance	1 to 2 years
A skill has been certified but has never been put into practice	Regular assignment to the schedule	Starting the next quarter

Pay attention to the last row of the table. A skill that’s never used in scheduling is lost, and the operator will no longer be able to work independently when called upon to fill that position.

As for funding, the transition period Replaces Pro-A and Transitions collectives as of February 1, 2026. Check with your OPCO to confirm which certifications are eligible before including this funding in a budget line.

5. Draft the lines and set the deadlines

To-do: Fill in the seven columns for each priority, with a quarterly deadline.

How to:

1. Name one person per line—an individual, not a department.
2. Set the deadline based on how long it takes to acquire a skill in your industry, then factor in your seasonal peaks.
3. Check with the production team to see how many training slots are available per week before scheduling anything.
4. Choose a performance metric, such as the number of independent operators or up-to-date certifications. Training hours measure the activity of the training department.

At the sites we equip, it takes a median of 8 days to become proficient in the automotive sector and 57 days in the cosmetics sector. Measure this timeframe for your own workstations, starting from the most recent validations, before setting a timeline for a production line.

Have two team leaders review the schedule before the committee meeting. In just a few minutes, they’ll spot the deadlines that fall right in the middle of peak season.

6. Monitor the plan on a quarterly basis

To-do: Hold a one-hour meeting once a quarter with site management, production, HR, QHSE, and one team leader from each sector.

Agenda:

1. Delayed flights and their causes.
2. New Developments: Announced Departures, Approvals in Less Than 90 Days, Business Plans.
3. Adjustments: line shifted by no more than one quarter, line added, line closed.

Key metrics to monitor: the number of target positions, the skills held by a single person, and the percentage of evaluations that are less than one year old. Their formulas are detailed in our guide to GEPP indicators. Present their progress to the CSE during the agreement's follow-up review.

In Mercateam, each line item becomes a skill-development objective assigned to the relevant operators, and alerts regarding the expiration of authorizations are automatically generated. The review dashboard updates automatically without manual consolidation, and Groupe SEB has eliminated 35 Excel files by linking its schedule to its skills matrix.

Example of a GEPP Action Plan at a Factory with 350 Employees

This case study brings together common scenarios in the agri-food industry and does not describe any actual customers. The facility employs 240 operators working two eight-hour shifts, spread across 45 workstations.

What the diagnosis revealed

The completed action plan

GEPP Action Plan for a Food Processing Plant with 350 Employees (Case Study)

Priority	Difference	Action	Population	Carrier	Deadline	Performance Indicator
P1	138 reviews older than one year	Job reevaluation, sector by sector	138 operators, 8 team leaders	Production Manager	End of Q1 2027	100 % evaluations less than one year old
P1	31 authorizations set to expire	Scheduled renewals, notification 90 days before expiration	31 employees	QHSE Manager	Monthly Magazine	No assignments with an expired authorization
P1	5 roles held by a single person, including 2 departures	A team consisting of one incumbent and two successors, to be launched in January 2027	5 incumbents, 10 successors	Team leaders in the relevant sectors	Q3 2027 for departures, Q4 2027 for all others	3 people, each with their own area of expertise
P2	18 positions below the target	On-the-job training, two sessions per week outside of peak season	27 operators	Production Manager and HR Manager	Q4 2027	18 workstations with 3 autonomous operators
P2	New automated line	Installation Management Track Launched in March 2027	12 drivers	Industrial Director	August 2027	12 autonomous drivers at the start
P3	Maintenance Position Vacant	Two work-study students and a bridge from the control room	2 work-study students, 3 volunteer operators	HR Manager	Start of the 2027 School Year	5 technicians on staff by the end of 2028

If you had to stick to just one line, stick with the first one, because the other five are based on reliable figures. At two sessions per week, training 27 operators between April and December 2027 leaves some wiggle room for the peak season.

The mentoring pairs for the two departures begin their work twelve months before the scheduled date, at the lower end of the 12- to 18-month window. Their goal is for the successors to be fully independent three months before the departure, so that the incumbent can still verify their readiness.

What should you do when things don't go as planned?

As you draft the plan, write down your response to these three common situations that arise during production.

Mistakes That Cause a GEPP Action Plan to Fail

• The schedule was drawn up without consulting the team leaders, so training slots are being skipped right from the start of the peak season.
• Coverage is based on assessments spanning more than a year, and the schedule breaks down at the first absence.
• A line assigned to «production» is not reviewed by anyone.
• Only the number of training hours is tracked, and that number rises each quarter while the number of independent operators remains flat.

Where to start this week

Start with the'Step 2 Focus on a single area: date the evaluations, count the number of independent workers per position, and list the skills held by a single person. One day with the team leader is enough to determine whether your plan is based on reliable data.

To keep this data up to date without having to re-enter it, check out the GEPP software from Mercateam, used at more than 300 industrial sites.