SNCF custom program

SNCF: The Mega-Dive Tranformation Program

Context

The French Railway company SNCF lost €15 billion as a result of incorrect information provided by engineers at French railway operator RFF, which meant that 2,000 new trains ordered by SNCF were found to be too wide for many of its regional platforms. Meanwhile, a deteriorating financial performance of its public infrastructure and freight operations, and a strike in 2014 that paralyzed the country’s rail service, meant the company was bleeding cash. The French authorities decided to merge the two companies to improve the overall -service and coordination between the two entities and provide a reliable public service that it could be proud of.

Challenge

SNCF’s mission was to turn its services back into the reliable and commercially attractive business propositions they once were. However, employees feared that the merger of SNCF and RFF would do little to bring about positive change, secure jobs and improve the increasingly bleak climate at SNCF. The Group Presidents decided to involve the Top 650 leaders in crafting the new organization to ensure their buy-in, which was key to the success of the new entity. An upcoming annual convention offered the perfect opportunity to do just that.

SNCF and IMD’s main challenge was to tranform two somehow antagonistic state organizations into one united force capable of embracing the future together, having learned from its past then let go of it. To reach that end, the custom program had to involve the same 650 doubtful leaders in the redesign to ensure a shared commitment to succeed.

Custom approach

SNCF partnered with IMD to help charter this new path of the company. With just two days of face-to-face time with the whole group, it was paramount that the participants arrived at the convention up-tospeed and ready for change. Through a process called mega-dive, participants used design
thinking to dream and visualize a brighter future for SNCF.

The mega-dive methodology has four distinct phases: Inspiration, Ideation, Iteration and Execution. This well-proven process creates the space for people to think from an outsidei-n perspective, act as entrepreneurs instead of bureaucrats, and stimulate cross-functional teamwork.

In view of the short time available to work together face-to-face as a group, for six weeks prior to the convention, the participants busied themselves with an online transformation platform facilitated by IMD. IMD wrote custom articles to highlight critical trends and issues relevant to the world of SNCF today. It developed special online lectures to inspire people on a range of possible futures, and designed critical exercises to get them to exchange as a group and interact with critical stakeholders in the field.

Finally, it probed participants to share their hopes and fears regarding the new SNCF. This encouraged the executives to think about how the world around them was changing and what SNCF’s role would be in the new order. The results were shared in a high-impact video that captured and reflected the energy and concerns of the group. Ongoing conversations uncovered entrepreneurial initiatives underway in the company, which were shared with the others

Impact

The IMD experience facilitated knowledge development and capacity building within the organization to carry out a major transformation and brought about a complete mindset shift. Several proposals are already being implemented and new initiatives continue to be developed.

Several proposals developed in the process started being sponsored by members of the board and started the process of being implemented. It could be also observed that a new entrepreneurial mindset is emerged in many different parts of the organization. Among the many initiatives, one can mention:

• New ways of conducting maintenance work on the tracks;
• Socializing employees when they arrive on the job;
• Approaching problems that emerge using a multi-functional perspective;
• Experimenting with new business approaches to deal with the uncertainty of innovation at the start.

One example of new experimentations resulted from this partnership was the launch of TGV Pop, an application that encourages customers to fill trains by coordinating their traveling schedules then enjoying discounted rates providing the trains are filled. Meanwhile, SNCF is continuing to apply the mega-dive way of thinking to imagine the train stations of the future.