The COP signed in 2017 implants the necessity of proposing a services offer worthy of the scientific excellence and high demands of the establishment’s missions in IRD’s global strategy in the long term. These services should provide precious assistance for the strategic management of the research, by putting in place simplified and innovative decision and monitoring processes. This transformation and adaptation effort for the means of organisation, action and presence is therefore an essential contribution to IRD’s scientific and institutional ambitions.
In this way, IRD is participating in the national movement to modernise and simplify public administration.
In 2017, this was manifested in particular by the drive for reorganisation and rationalisation of its support functions, with a focus on deconcentration, which helps to ensure more effective support in proximity to the units. The introduction of regional delegations in mainland France has seen major progress with the installation of new regional services, in particular human resources (HR) and the establishment of new support processes. The newly created regional delegations are now involved in excellence initiatives, such as the I-site Muse in Occitanie.
In 2017, the establishment continued giving priority to scientific employment, with the introduction of an eligibility stage for researcher recruitment competitions, but also the promotion of the professional careers of Institute agents. In particular, this includes a stabilisation plan for permanent roles. Priority was also given to supporting agents in improving their information and their working environment, with increased attention to quality of life.
The main organisational and functional changes in the establishment are therefore accompanied by new initiatives such as the integration process for new representatives launched in 2017. In the domain of human resources, the deployment at the end of 2017 of RIFSEEP, the new State benchmark payment tool, is the result of sustained consultation between trade union and governance organisations to build an ambitious, fairer and more transparent facility.
The signing of the interministerial decree on the evolution of the IRE (residence allowances abroad) scale, to be implemented in 2018, will allow a rapprochement with the other practices of public scientific and technical establishments. Above all, it will help to limit the excessive pay discrepancies compared to the average income in countries where we intervene, including compared to that of academic staff in these countries that we work with every day.
Modernisation also means strengthening support processes. In this regard, IRD worked in 2017 to strengthen its internal control, and proposed a new purchasing action plan.
The deployment of a financial strategy in line with IRD’s ambitions has accompanied its development, driven by a strong desire for good budgetary governance, including in the optimisation of its heritage (sale of the Arue premises in Polynesia, for example).
There have also been concrete demonstrations of sharing and openness to other higher education and research partners in 2017, particularly a framework agreement concluded with the MNHN, which led to a joint representative being put in place in Madagascar.
Finally, one major evolution is the availability of new tools to agents, units and governance, to facilitate budget and HR arbitration, for example the introduction of the new DAM (demand for allocation of means) tool, and above all IRD’s move to SIFAC EPST, within an extremely short timescale. This move not only allows us to implement Public Budgetary and Accounts Management (GBCP), but also provides us with a common tool for sharing practices with our partners.
