Marc Rousseau, Worldskills France Performance Director "The partnership with Coverguard isn't just a speech. It's about concrete, sincere action"

Striving for performance, surpassing oneself, innovation, transmission: these are the shared values that have prompted the WorldSkills France teams to renew their confidence in us to equip them for the forthcoming international events. But that's not all. As Marc Rousseau, the organization's Director of Performance, explains, our PPE plays a major role in the performance of our competitors. Interview.

You are Director of Performance at WorldSkills France. What does this involve ?

Marc Rousseau : My role is to set up a competition course, with different stages. The national competition awards medals at French level to the best in each profession. Then, from among them, we make a selection to go on to the international competition. The whole process must be carried out in a coherent way, with a program designed to enable each individual to develop maximum performance, in the best possible conditions. The ultimate goal is to win medals in European and world events..

As was brilliantly the case in Lyon, during WorldSkills 2024 !

Marc Rousseau : Indeed, my position was created in 2021 to meet the ambitions carried by the association in the run-up to the 2024 world competition organized in Lyon. We obviously wanted France to stand out during this home edition. This led to a real performance strategy, and we had four years to put it in place and achieve our objective: to break into the top 5 of the world rankings. The challenge was met and exceeded, with the French team finishing in 3rd place! It's a real source of pride.

« Thanks to the collective, we all push back our personal limits »

And a great achievement! You've been working behind the scenes for 20 years, supporting the various French teams that have taken part in the competition. Previously as assistant expert, then technical delegate.

Marc Rousseau : It's often said that you catch the virus when you enter Worldskills, and that it's hard to get rid of it afterwards! It's true, and this virus is first and foremost a taste for competition. Even though I've never competed, I'm a competitor at heart, and I love the values that the organization promotes: sharing and transmission. We're constantly learning, sharing experiences with people in the trade from all over the world. It's a great spirit of fraternity that drives us. What's more, we're there for young people. We create an incredible team cohesion. Thanks to this collective, we push back our personal limits. It's a wonderful human adventure that transforms all the young people who experience it, and the organizers too.

What was the recipe for success in 2024 ?

Marc Rousseau : The challenge was to find every way of surpassing oneself. In this Worldskills adventure, we have a very short, condensed timeframe to enable everyone to surpass themselves. So the idea was to find a way of rapidly maximizing everyone's skills. We sought to optimize all the stages, and not just the international preparation stage as was previously the case. We planted the little seed of performance as early as possible, so that it would grow as quickly as possible..

« One of our shared values: innovation »

In concrete terms, what have you done to develop the performance of competitors and experts? ?

Marc Rousseau : For a competition like the Worldskills, you obviously need to be at the top of your game in terms of professional skills. So we worked a lot with the experts and teams who surround the competitors and pass on their know-how. We have also developed the whole mental and physical preparation aspect. This is very important when you're working in an environment like that of a competition, which is quite unusual, very stressful, with strong competition and a lot at stake. This preparation must enable you to withstand all this pressure, both on the day of the competition and during training. The experts have also benefited from it, to be effective and relevant in their coaching role. They have to know how to transmit, encourage, organize, judge... and all this in an international context. They too need supports.

The strength of the collective, transmission, surpassing oneself: values that you find at Coverguard and that have encouraged you to renew the partnership with our brand for the rest of the competition ?

Marc Rousseau : Exactly! Coverguard puts its trust in young people by giving them responsibilities that enable them to progress within the company. That's what we do with our young competitors, who go on to become experts. We also share this idea of surpassing oneself. Like us, Coverguard never stops at the first hurdle and never settles for less. Another value we share is innovation. We, too, are always looking to innovate and improve. We wouldn't have achieved what we have if we hadn't constantly challenged ourselves. Just as you do with the CoverLab when you invite our experts and competitors to provide feedback on the use of the PPE you develop. It's all about learning from experience to improve.

« Wearing PPE has a physical impact on the competitor and on the outcome of the competition »

Proximity to our partners is one of our fundamental pillars !

Marc Rousseau : You can feel it. The Coverguard team comes to see us regularly at our French team meetings, and they're present at competitions. They come to support us and are very committed to us. They implement the partnership in a truly remarkable and sincere way. It's not just talk, it's concrete action.

There are these shared values, and then there are Coverguard products. What role does PPE play in the performance of WorldSkills competitors ?

Marc Rousseau : PPE is important because there are risks and we have to manage them, in competition as much as in business. They help protect our competitors and experts. To do so, they must be worn without discomfort, and therefore be well designed. If glasses fall off all the time, you lose concentration and execution time. On the contrary, if PPE is comfortable, the competitor will wear it naturally and avoid mistakes. They won't put themselves in danger, and won't lose points in the competition. Safety is fully integrated into the scoring system. If good practice and safety rules are applied, this is taken into account by the jury. Wearing PPE therefore has a physical impact on the competitor and on the outcome of the competition. Having a partner like Coverguard, with quality PPE, is therefore essential in our quest for performance.

How do you see this recently renewed partnership continuing ?

Marc Rousseau : With Coverguard, we are committed to continuous improvement. We're working on the choice of gloves, jackets and goggles for upcoming events. We're also very much in tune with and happy to support you in this new approach: "Every skill matters". Today, it is above all the serenity that emanates from our collaboration that fosters our performance and success.