Ipsos is the construction of a lifetime. Because 24 years is almost a quarter of a century, and it’s a long time! But at the same time, so much happened, and that time passed exceptionally quickly without me noticing it. Ipsos has grown tremendously and has become a recognized global leader and a buoyant publicly listed company.
By organizing the successful IPO on July 1st, 1999, on the Paris Stock Exchange, Laurence Stoclet was then able to arrange the availability of the financial resources needed to support their growth development plan and M&A program while keeping the independence of the company. Needless to say, the company’s revenues have multiplied by 16 times since then.
The IPO was the occasion to start a total transformation of the company. A new birth. More financial resources, broadening possibilities and horizons. This is their reinforced installation in North America, and in emerging markets, the change from a SME to a large corporation, from a local European company to a global organisation, from multi-brands to One “Ipsos”.
Today, with 20,000 employees in 90 countries, Ipsos is ranked 4th in the market and public opinion research sector worldwide; its 2022 revenues are at 2.4 billion Euros, and its operating margin is at 13%. Their share price reached an all-time high for our shareholders, around 60 Euros per share (when the IPO price was 8.3 Euros).
Laurence is a senior executive with extensive experience in Finance, Technology, and Management of international operations. She has been a Board Member since 2002 at Ipsos, a global leader in market research and public opinion polls.
At the end of 2022, she joined the Board of Ingenico, a global leader in Payment solutions owned by Apollo, and is chairing its Audit Committee. With an MBA from ESCP Business School (Banking and Finance), Laurence also holds a postgraduate diploma in Chartered Accounting. Earlier in her career, she was an intern financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, then spent more than six years at Arthur Andersen as an Audit and Consulting Manager and two years at the listed manufacturing company, Metaleurop as Head of Treasury, Financing, and Investor Relations.
“In 1998, the year I started, Ipsos was privately owned, the 10th player in the industry, invoicing close to 150 million Euros per year. It was operating in 12 countries, mostly in Europe, with 1,300 employees,” says Laurence. “From a profitability perspective, its operating margin was lower (around 3.5%), and Net Income/Free Cash Flows were slightly negative; its balance sheet was significantly leveraged (gearing – debt to equity ratio was at 96% – it is less than 5% today).”
Among the top global players in market research, Ipsos is considered one of the most successful and certainly the one which is the best financially managed and the only independent organization. “Without any doubt, this is our financial discipline which has been key in retaining our independence, while Private Equity firms have bought all our large competitors,” elucidates Laurence. “But I was not only a CFO, the youngest one of a listed company on the Paris Stock Exchange at the time of the IPO. I also actively participated in the construction of Ipsos as a global leader, putting in place the right operating model, organization, infrastructure and procedures, which helped us along the years to smoothly integrate new companies in our network. We have made more than a hundred acquisitions.”
In particular, Laurence has established a well-functioning ERP and related management information ecosystem (HRIS, BI, …). It works in real-time and is fully deployed in the 90 markets where they operate. It has been a critical success factor in driving the company through the improvement of its profitability across the years but also in being resilient through the most challenging times, like the financial crisis in 2008-2009 and, more recently, through the covid pandemic.
“For our clients and our teams, we have become the true ” Home of Passionate Researchers.” The engagement level of our employees that we measure through our Pulse surveys is very high,” adds Laurence. “With our Service Lines well identified and redefined during our last transformation plan launched in mid-2018 and called the “Total Understanding Project” (TUP), we offer a real differentiation from our competitors and great quality and service to our clients. It has been a real recognition to be awarded the most innovative company Trophee in our sector for two years, as assessed independently by the clients.” WL
Sharing Advise
1. Why is inspiration of importance today? Who inspired You?
The Founder of Ipsos, Didier Truchot, is certainly the person who inspired me the most. He is a real Legend in our industry, having founded Ipsos from scratch in 1975. He has shared with me some of his acute point of views that I have come to embrace in relation with the build-up of Ipsos but also in my private life. And I would like in turn to share some of them for you.
First of all, being an entrepreneur is all about hard-working, taking care of the money but also about Luck. This luck comes mostly from meeting the right people, at the right time, and being able to attract and retain them, in the right places. People who can complement your own skills and experiences. People who are colleagues and become friends. Ipsos is not a family (because you do not necessarily choose your family!) but certainly a community, a community of great professionals and friends, all passionate researchers.
You cannot build something Big without optimism and enthusiasm that you should share, seeing the glass half full rather than half empty.
You need to constantly adapt but always keep your behavior consistent with your values. Ipsos has 5 core values, which start by Integrity, Curiosity, Collaboration, Client First and Entrepreneurial Spirit. They are truly mine as well.
Not everyone can become a true Entrepreneur. Many executives lack the courage of making decisions because they are not confident enough. They do not trust their instinct and their skills and are afraid of making decisions that will expose them. They are scared of being wrong, scared of losing their job or their reputation if the situation does not develop favorably. And in many cases, they do not want to risk making enemies, not being loved, saying “NO” and going against the “loose” consensus. They are “produced” by their teams instead of leading them. The “CYA” (Cover Your Ass) syndrome is unfortunately very common and prevents many people from taking initiatives.
Those executives do not understand that when you make a decision in a complex environment, there is most of the time no certain outcome and no visibility. You can never know for sure how it is going to work out.
A real entrepreneur never knows in advance that his enterprise is going to be a big success or just a mediocre one or a failure. In real life, Entrepreneurs are only recognized after the facts by the Society if they have succeeded. However, I am not saying that a successful entrepreneur is someone who takes deliberate risks. On the contrary, it is someone who is very prudent, including with the money. On top of Courage, Intensity and Perseverance are also important elements of success.
This is why Didier likes this sentence from William of Orange which advocates for foresight, pragmatism, and long-lasting action, necessary for the accomplishment of any professional project: “One need not hope to undertake, nor succeed to persevere.”
And again, Luck always plays its part. This is why giving back when you have succeeded is a Must. You are only rich of what you have given back.
2. How is Laurence inspiring and empowering your team members into becoming great leaders of tomorrow?
Resolutely focused on action and on proximity of teams, I would like to leave you with some advice coming from my own experience. Whatever the subjects and projects, I have applied the same recipes: determination, collaboration, and above all common sense. I have no hidden agenda; I am honest and sincere. I am a listener, open-minded and like being challenged and provided with different new ideas.
In terms of management style, I try to be simple, direct and clear in what I expect from my teams giving them every year priorities which are new exciting challenges and providing them adequate resources so that they can achieve them.
Giving freedom to your managers in a well-mapped framework is the key for developing strong and stable teams. However, as the boss, you must decide at the end of the day and define this framework.
Being fair including in compensation package and favoring internal promotion is the other important key.
As result, I always had the highest score of engagement of the company in my direct and indirect staff according to our internal employee survey called “Pulse”.
Note that Employee relationship management and internal surveys is one of our important lines of service to our clients at Ipsos. We have international benchmarks which make the findings even more interesting. We apply to ourselves the Pulse survey that we sell to clients to help them better understand the expectations of their own employees.
3. How long did it take you to find success? Is there any advice you would like to share from your journey?
It took Ipsos more than 40 years to become a recognized player in the global industry. So, you need to be patient!
This is about talents:
I have often described Ipsos as the “Home of Researchers” with the ambition to attract, develop and retain the best talents in our industry. As one picture says more than a thousand words, you should imagine this Home not as a shelter for poor or abandoned technicians but rather a Building that is modern and modular, with open spaces, yet warm and friendly. This Home houses the most creative experts in market research. Many individual wings may be added to this building along the way as there are no limits to our growth.
This is about being well implemented in the right geographies:
The year I joined Ipsos (1998), we had just bought our first subsidiary in the US called “ASI”. It was not a large company, but it was the first of many acquisitions that we have done in North America, which represents 50% of the global industry.
The US is also where are located 2/3 of the large multinationals. The US is also the place of birth of our industry. In 1911, the first unit formed with a business activity named “market research” was “National Partners”. The US is also where a lot of innovations are born, like the usage of the internet and digital surveys in the late 90’s.
This is about Cash:
I have worked at transforming the financial performance of the company, making it a true cash making firm. One of my preferred motoes is: “Sales is vanity, Profit is sanity, Cash is reality”.
This is a quote from the New York Times in 1992 that I got from a French fund manager met while doing our IPO roadshow.
Taking care of the company’s liquidity, cash generation and access to Debt and capital markets is a key standard responsibility for any CFO. This was done though a number of capital increases, through raising long term debt (unsecured syndicated credit facilities and bond issues) and more importantly thanks to an improved profitability and solid generation of operating cash flows. Ipsos benefits now from a strong reputation of being well managed financially and having a sound financial situation, which is recognized by an “investment grade” shadow rating (NAIC2 – ie BBB).
The road has been bumpy from time to time: At 3 different crisis periods, I was able to take the decisive actions that helped to keep the company safe and independent from different types of predators.
4. What’s a leadership or life lesson that you’ve learnt?
I would like to summarize my management philosophy with 3 words: Exemplarity, Frugality and Intensity.
Exemplarity:
Integrity is key if we want to set an example and I believe in management by example and positive education. We must sincerely respect people and their differences, try to make them progress and offer them the best opportunities to find their space. Seek to raise them rather than rebuff them.
“Say what you do but then Do what you say” is my personal line of conduct. In life there are no problems, there are solutions; but rarely just one solution. I like to practice ” healthy skepticism “, as taught during my first job as a consultant at Arthur Andersen back in 1989, because it helps know how to choose quickly and be decisive, even in complicated situations. Trust yourself and others to make a good decision, whatever it is, even if other paths are possible, as being quick in moving is highly important.
Laziness is the enemy. I am courageous and a workaholic, never tired. But on the other side, I have always insisted that the members of my teams work strictly normal hours because overtime is not necessarily the sign of a well-organized individual.
This is also about being the first one to take care about the money and not having high expense notes. Which leads to Frugality.
Frugality:
Frugality means managing the money of the Company with the same care as if it was your own wallet. This means watching costs permanently. Here, there is never enough small savings because small rivers make big rivers. I like to say: “1 Euro is 1 Euro, 1 dollar is 1 dollar, 1 Penny is 1 Penny”.
This means not having show-off premises, but only spaces which provide a warm and friendly work environment, with well-designed open spaces.
This means also having as less people as possible in support functions and dealing with internal affairs. I had many occasions to compare the size and costs of the Ipsos Headquarters to the one of similar global organization, in our industry and outside. It is in average half of the others.
And of course, being a CFO means that you need to control and cut costs, which is never popular. But Being the “bad cop” is the job to be done, so you need to be strong and opinionated. And, if you manage well, you can do so without having to ever make a lay-off plan, which is what we have achieved, including during the financial crisis.
I have observed that large companies are often paralyzed by the “Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen” syndrome. In those situations, the Cooks talk a lot and forever about the great things the company should undertake to improve but nobody is actually doing something to change.
On the contrary at Ipsos, we have been successful thanks to a flat, efficient and lean organization, adapted to the environment, having in mind that there is no such thing as an “ideal” organization. The organisation needs to be evolved depending on the context, but it must be agile and able to take decision quickly.
Usually, the more people you have, the more costs you will incur because anyone must justify his/her presence by the projects they want to run, the more projects in parallel you will get, sometimes conflicting. With less people at Headquarters, you are obliged to choose your battles and your priorities. And you can focus better and achieve the right level of Intensity.
Intensity:
The word “Intensity” has been used by Microsoft new CEO, Satya Nadella, when he took his job.
I am also a strong believer and supporter of Warren Buffet’s views, the American billionaire who founded Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha. He says that what kills companies is always the “ABC” syndrome, which stands for “Arrogance, Bureaucracy and Complacency”.
Yes, at the end of the day, you always need to challenge yourself. I believe in continuous improvement because perfection is not of this world. In an ever faster moving environment, this is important to challenge the status quo without losing sight of what your clients really need and what is your purpose.
Focus is key to keep high intensity level along the years. Choosing few relevant priorities every year (no more than 3 to 5) and executing well on them: “On Time, On Specs, On Budget” is one of my motoes, not only when it comes to technology development projects.
The most important asset of any company is the time of its CEO and the C-Suite members. You can better empower your teams with a clear framework of trust, delegation of authority, accountability, and escalation. And few well designed control processes so that Top management is immediately aware of any significant matter, without having to do micro-management. Of course, it is a thin balance.
5. What is one of the biggest trends in your present industry? How are you working on implementing the same?
A successful company is a story that evolves and develops. We must therefore continue to grow Ipsos, without losing the thread, by remaining faithful to our DNA.
The current trends involve digitalization of our surveys. Online surveys were less than 1% of our business in 2000, 40% in 2010 and 63% now!
6. What is one of the biggest achievements of your organization owing to its revolutionary approach?
Since 1982, we have been working on predicting elections, now in more than 35 markets. It is thanks to our methodologies, proprietary models and experts that we work for large public and private institutions in those complex polling fields for many years now.
We have been the first polling company in France to use telephone in the 80’s to do polling. Since the year 2000, we use internet surveys.
And more recently, we have developed and launched in 2020 a Saas service called “Ipsos.digital”. It is a DYI (Do It Yourself) Platform which fully automates the research process end-to-end and delivers real time information to our clients. It is planned to represent 12% of our revenues by 2025.
7. What goals are you still working towards achieving?
“Best People and Best Technology” is the base of our new strategy and our growth plans for 2025.
A lot of people in the financial markets (Funds Managers, Private Equity firms and others) may think that with technology you can automate, reduce your headcount and ultimately cut costs. This might be true but within a Professional Service like ours, the quality and the number of your researchers are the key deciding factor for our customers. Therefore, at Ipsos, we have taken the opposite view: we need to have as many “Best People” (ie professionals) as we can, delivering intellectual value to our clients. However, this value is based on the Data that we produce; and for producing Data, we must master the “Best Technology”, including AI, Web.3, … so that the information is produced Quicker, Better and Cheaper, so that we can free up the time of our Researchers from executional or administrative tasks, so that they can spend more time in analysing Data and more time in advising our clients on the understanding of the market information we deliver to them.
In parallel with the business itself, a second transformation for more equity – a subject that is particularly close to my heart – has been underway for several years within Ipsos, which must reflect the image of Society and the citizens it surveys. Diversity and gender balance at the different levels of the structure are certainly a source of performance for the company but above all an obligation in a largely feminized profession (60% of our employees are women). There is still some work to be done to achieve our goals: 40% of women on the management committee before 2027 (knowing that the deadline of the “Rixain Law” in France is set for 2030), and 50% of women among the top 200 executives of Ipsos (against 35% currently).
The « Equity Ratio » is mandatory report to be released by listed companies in France. It measures the pay gap between the CEO and the average employee. This is also a subject that is close to my heart and for which Ipsos can consider itself today one of the best groups in the Paris Stock Exchange, with one of the best Equity Ratio score.
8. What is in store for the future. Both in terms for you & the company?
The recently developed Ipsos’ “raison d’être” (adopted early 2020 by our Board of Directors) sums up the company’s ambition and sense of purpose: “Deliver reliable information for a True understanding of Society, Markets and People.”
It is a beautiful job to be done, being the voice of the People, whether they are citizens, consumers, employees or patients. Our industry is supporting ESG and democracy by telling the truth about what People have in their minds, what they really think, like, dislike and wish for.
I have only one wish: that Ipsos continues its success story, at a sustained pace, in today’s uncertain and constantly changing environment. We absolutely must find the way to deliver the information ” almost real time ” to all our customers, not just at the time of elections.
For this, I would talk about postures and work habits to adopt being in action, thirsting for achievement, hard-working, daring to innovate and take risks, following your instinct while remaining curious. But more than anything, getting out of your comfort zone, facing the unknown and gaining confidence from these successes! Finally, doing all this as a team because, as an African proverb says, “if you want to go fast, walk alone, but if you want to go far, let’s walk together”.
9. Would you like to highlight any other interesting insight that we may have missed in this questionnaire?
As you can see, I am very passionate and proud to be Ipsos, like our 20,000 employees around the world, Didier Truchot, our founder and Chairman, and Ben Page, our CEO since the end of 2021.
Conclusion
“l will conclude with a more persona! word: in this changing environment, there is only one constant and that is Love: Love for your spouse and for your children; tenderness for your family and friendship of your friends; affection and respect for your colleagues; kindness to others; love of life, children, animals, nature and the planet,” says Laurence. “I love Ipsos and my colleagues there and thank them all from the bottom of my heart for these wonderful 24 years while I was a top executive and for the years to come as I remain on the Board of directors and a happy shareholder! “
