Nicole Notat, founder of Vigeo, the first European CSR rating agency

When I meet Nicole in her luminous corner office on the 28th floor just outside Paris, she is just out of a 3 weeks business marathon (she won’t tell me what about …) that made her twice postpone our interview. I understand from her assistant that her unsteady agenda is often totally reworked: it’s the price to pay for consolidating an innovative business.

Nicole Notat founded the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) rating agency Vigeo in 2002, through a fundraising operation that brought to the table 13 M€ from some 50 investors: hedge funds, European unions and corporations, a mix that ensures independency to Vigeo and equity to it’s customers. Vigeo is now the first European CSR rating agency, after the having absorbed the French Arese, merged with the Belgium Ethibel and ventured with the Italian Avanzi. The ethical rating model is – still – an audit and consulting one, quite different from the financial rating business model which leans on publishing ratings to the wider audience of stakeholders. Vigeo’s growth is around 20%/year, has 75 employees and some 80 customers, for a 6,7M€ yearly revenue (2008 projection).

A union background
She is smiling yet often lost in thought – miles away from me, just like she is going off the daily details of reality as if to answer my questions about how to change the world needs a huge step back effort. In fact, Nicole is a pragmatic woman, who has already led a few lives and likes to ensure her actions make sense. She started in the 60s as a provincial teacher and discovered the trade unionism through the French May 1968 events, to her surprise as she had no clue about politics and unionism from her education and family environment. Finding that personal engagement made sense to her, she joined one of the medium French unions, the CFDT, where she first took regional then national responsibilities, before becoming its number one as general secretary from 1992 to 2002.

The rationale behind Vigeo
Through the decade leading social discussions with CEOs and observing the advance of globalization, Nicole became convinced of the major role of corporations to shape local development, and challenge poverty and economical vulnerability. Two options were open to the corporate world: make the most of the low standards in developing countries, or raise them up. But until the public, the national organizations, and the stakeholders became aware and convinced of the corporations’ role in building a proper future, short term financial objectives would prevent any significant progress. And so Nicole planned the Vigeo endeavor, to offer to corporations a process to authenticate their societal commitments, at a time where she was thinking about her next challenge and relieved on handing over her CFDT chair.

The impact of Vigeo
Six years later, she likes to say that companies – at least some – now understand the alternative and that Vigeo’s launch has brought about progress and sparked demand for CSR analysis. She tells me about a CEO (she won’t tell who…) who at first was reluctant to engage in that direction, far from his shareholders concerns, then recently – by necessity, realism or cynicism – noticed solicitations and controversy, agreed that CSR communication is “in the air” and welcomed Vigeo for a first: “since we can’t avoid it, let’s have you take care of it – at least I know you”. “Let’s be modest”, she says, acknowledging that audit results rarely lead to a corporate strategy change, but rather help executives to plan, prioritize actions and assess metrics.

Unclear rules and no referee
When I ask what profound changes she would like to see, she mentions more awareness from each and everyone – as no-one can plan for change without understanding the wider reality, a demanding and continuous exercise – , changing the financial systems that bring repeating crisis’ with short term adjustments missing structural correction – “a soccer field with unclear rules and no referee”, and improving the “unchained” globalization vision, Manichean and mechanical, for a vision where developing countries are allowed to find their own paths to evolve. She remains convinced that sustainable development needs a ruling authority, a frame that does not yet exist.

Make choices and act
She thinks women are not different but rather bring a new eye to the workplace: they are transforming the business because as new entrants, they see it from a new perspective; and they often have 3 days in one, so they seek the best organization and the most efficient way to achieve results. She is inspired by bravery and resourcefulness of women in misfortune, rather than well known models. She fought for the “35 hours” but delivers 70 hours at work each week herself, though she protects her vacation like mad; her secret of work-life balance is to make choices, assume them and act.

Cécile Demailly
VP Think Tank Communities
EuropeanPWN
July 2008