EM Normandie & Decathlon, a partnership to train Young Managers

Decathlon ranks as the leading recruiter of EM Normandie graduates, with 35 alumni holding a position in the structure, and 12 students on a cooperative programme contract, together with dozens of interns. Today, this Business School and the French leader in designing and retailing sports products are formalising and strengthening such links by signing a partnership.

Objective N°1: Developing field action-learning for the benefit of students in order to pass on the managerial behaviour required from any junior executive and to bring Decathlon a fresh look at its activities. Beyond existing Junior Consulting Projects on specific topics and internships, both structures are determined to capitalise on cooperative programmes, as this is a track that combines attractive propositions for both the students (pronounced professionalisation orientation, leveraged professional insertion, tuition waiver, stipend) and the firm (exemption from social contributions, training future employees). In a matter of three years, numbers of EM Normandie students involved have been trebled, drawn from the 600 cooperative programme students there. 

This partnership aims also at benefitting from Decathlon's expertise in the field to ensure that study programmes at EM Normandie remain relevant to the needs of a constantly changing market. The great variety of occupations filled by our graduates within the Decathlon Group demonstrates the effectiveness of this model: Head of Department, Store Manager, Marketing Manager, Head of Customer Relations, or Personnel Manager.

A training aspect has also included for Decathlon personnel in order to support the Group in coping with its growth issues and new challenges.