{"id":9868,"date":"2026-04-01T15:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/merca.team\/?p=9868"},"modified":"2026-04-01T15:52:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:52:46","slug":"skills-development-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merca.team\/en\/plan-de-developpement-des-competences\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you build a skills development plan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gaps have been identified, critical positions spotted, and the versatility matrix shows red on two production lines. You know where the problem lies. The problem is what to do next: how to move from this observation to a skills development plan<\/strong> structured, with a calendar, a budget, and above all a follow-up that doesn't end up in a forgotten Excel tab?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What is a skills development plan?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Skills Development Plan (SDP) covers all the training initiatives that an employer organizes for its employees. The term replaced \u00abtraining plan\u00bb on January 1, 2019, when the Avenir professionnel law<\/a> (known as the P\u00e9nicaud law) overhauled the framework for vocational training in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the name change, the scope has been broadened. The PDC can include traditional training (in-house or provided by an external organization), but also skills assessments, VAE (validation of acquired experience) and AFEST (on-the-job training). The latter format is of particular interest in industrial environments, as it enables an operator to be trained directly at his workstation, without having to take him off the line for three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why set up a skills development plan?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In production, skills are constantly changing. A new quality standard coming into force, a change of equipment on a line, an experienced operator retiring and taking with him know-how that no-one else has mastered: these are all situations that weaken skills coverage and catch sites without a structured plan unprepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PDC structures skills development upstream, rather than leaving each manager to react in a hurry. It serves to fill skills gaps<\/a> to increase the versatility of operators, so that absences no longer block a line, and to offer employees concrete prospects for career development, which has a direct impact on loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For sites subject to regular audits (ISO 9001, IATF 16949, NADCAP in the aeronautics industry), the PDC also provides documented traceability of each training action and authorization renewal. When the auditor asks for proof that an operator is qualified at his workstation, the answer is in the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employers' legal obligations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There is no formal obligation to draw up a PDC. But the\u2019article L6321-1 of the Labor Code<\/a> requires employers to ensure that each employee is properly adapted to his or her position, even when tools or processes change. In production, this means everything from mastering a new machine to renewing electrical clearance. The same article stipulates that employees must maintain their employability in the face of technological and organizational change, which, with the digitization of processes and the arrival of Industry 4.0, concerns virtually all jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without a DCP, it is difficult to prove that these obligations have been fulfilled, in the event of a dispute with the labour inspectorate or the courts. This makes the plan almost indispensable in practice, even if it is not required by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also worth noting: in companies with 50 or more employees, the ESC<\/strong> (Social and Economic Committee) must be consulted each year on the training guidelines and content of the PDC. And professional interviews, which are mandatory every two years, feed directly into the plan's needs, by providing feedback on the development aspirations of each employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 steps to building your skills development plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A useful DCP is not built by listing training courses in a spreadsheet. It starts from the ground up, and culminates in an action plan that managers can actually apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start by taking stock of existing skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before deciding what to train, you need to know where you stand: who can do what, at what level, and for which positions. In an industrial environment, this diagnosis involves skills mapping<\/a> which cross-references the skills required by each job with those actually possessed by your operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The skills evaluation grid<\/a> is the basic tool for this exercise. Each employee is rated on a scale (generally from 1 to 4: in training, autonomous, complete mastery, expert), and this evaluation is cross-referenced with that of the manager to avoid self-assessment bias. The result is a useful snapshot of the strengths and weaknesses in your workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n <\/span>\n Mercateam,<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

Your skills matrix hole pattern<\/span> ? View them in real time.<\/h2>\n

Mercateam centralizes the assessment of your operators' skills and automatically cross-references levels with the requirements of each position. No more scattered files.<\/p>\n Book a demo <\/svg><\/a>\n

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<\/svg>Dynamic matrix<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/svg>Cross-assessments<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/svg>+300 industrial sites<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Define priorities based on strategy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not all discrepancies can be treated with the same urgency. A single authorized operator on a critical workstation? The risk is immediate and can be dealt with in the coming weeks. Preparing a team for a new production line arriving in six months' time is a matter of strategy: important, but less urgent. Mandatory clearances, on the other hand, are not negotiable: they have to be renewed before the deadline, period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prioritization is based on operational urgency and the company's strategic orientations. Increased production rate expected? Versatility comes first. Quality audit in two months? Regulatory training comes first. In all cases, involve your local managers in this stage: they're the ones who see on a day-to-day basis which jobs are fragile, which operators need skills upgrading, and which skills are likely to disappear with the next departures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing the right training courses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PDC isn't just about sending people to the training room, and so much the better, because taking an operator off the line for several days is rarely realistic in production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFEST (action de formation en situation de travail) is probably the most relevant format in an industrial context. Operators learn on the job, in real-life conditions, with alternating phases of practical application and debriefing. Tutoring and companionship also work very well for transferring know-how between experienced operators and newcomers, provided they are formalized enough to count towards the PDC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n <\/span>\n Mercateam,<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

Plan your AFESTs and tutorials without taking your operators off the line<\/span><\/h2>\n

With Mercateam, each training action is linked to the targeted skills and integrated into the production schedule. The line manager can see who to train, when and on which shift.<\/p>\n Book a demo <\/svg><\/a>\n

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<\/svg>Integrated AFEST follow-up<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/svg>Linked to production planning<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/svg>Full traceability<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The skills-based training<\/a> complements these approaches: instead of a one-size-fits-all program, each action is targeted to the real gaps in the employee's skills. And for theoretical content (safety, standards, processes), e-learning and short modules avoid monopolizing teams for too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule and budget planning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As long as the plan has no dates, it remains a list of good intentions. But setting a production training schedule means dealing with the realities of the site: seasonal peaks in the food industry, planned audits, shift rotations, maintenance periods. No one will train in the middle of a campaign. We need to identify realistic windows of opportunity and spread the actions over the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PDC generally covers one year (three if provided for in a company agreement). As far as the budget is concerned, the items to be costed cover training costs, salary costs for time spent in training, logistical costs, and the indirect cost of replacing the operator while he is being trained. It's this last item that is often underestimated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financing<\/strong> The OPCO: companies with fewer than 50 employees can have all or part of their plan financed by their OPCO. For industry, this means OPCO 2i<\/strong> which manages the mutualized funds. Applications must be submitted at least one month before the start of the training course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last stage before deployment is consultation with the Works Council, which is mandatory for all employees with 50 or more. The committee must give its opinion on the training orientations and content of the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monitor and measure results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For the CFP to produce results, monitoring must be an integral part of day-to-day operations, not just a December review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Useful indicators are fairly straightforward: rate of completion of planned training, skills acquired or reinforced, evolution of versatility score per team, feedback from managers and operators. In production, the most telling test is assignment capacity: after a few months of the plan, are you able to cover more positions with your current workforce? Are replacements in case of absence less laborious?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quarterly update is all that's needed to recalibrate: postpone a training course that production doesn't allow, bring forward another because an audit is approaching, redirect priorities after an unexpected departure. It's this ability to adjust that distinguishes a useful plan from a theoretical one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n <\/span>\n Mercateam,<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

Measure skills development without waiting for the December review<\/span><\/h2>\n

Multi-skilling dashboards, authorization alerts, team coverage rates: Mercateam gives you real-time indicators to readjust your PDC every quarter.<\/p>\n Book a demo <\/svg><\/a>\n

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<\/svg>Versatile dashboards<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/svg>Authorization alerts<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/svg>Real-time tracking<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What should a skills development plan contain?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is no format imposed by law, but for a DCP to be of real use on a day-to-day basis, each training action must be documented with a minimum of information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n