Vincenzo Vinzi and Olivier Cantet (E87): “Facing the future, together!”

In the latest issue of Reflets ESSEC Magazine, Vincenzo Vinzi, Dean and President of ESSEC Group, and Olivier Cantet (E87), President of ESSEC Alumni, share their vision for the future of the school and the alumni network against the backdrop of COVID-19. Discover the English version of the 4-part interview here!

The coronavirus crisis

ESSEC Alumni: What has the COVID-19 pandemic been like for you, both personally and with regard to your work?

Vincenzo Vinzi: It’s been intense! On a personal level, it was that weird experience of being stuck staring at four walls that we all had, along with most of the planet. It forced us to remember how powerless we are when it comes to nature. But it was also an opportunity to acknowledge the true value of our health, and that not everyone is so fortunate.

The thing I will take away from this experience is our capacity for resilience, both as individuals and as a society. The ESSEC community made sure that social distancing didn’t mean social isolation, even using it as an opportunity to “socialise from home”.

As for work, I saw our teams work hand in hand to rethink our online courses in record time, watched our professors implement effective alternative teaching methods which our students got used to without missing a beat, and saw our staff really invest in working from home. We can be proud of making working from home a real success.

Another thing that has been important throughout these extraordinary times, in addition to dealing with the daily crises it threw up, was to make sure we kept making progress with our strategic and organisational overhauls, so that we are ready to weather the economic and social crisis that is following the public health crisis, while maintaining sound management and a long-term view for the growth of our dear school.

EA: And for you, Olivier?

Olivier Cantet: In my company, Private Sport Shop, we have been lucky. We are the European leader in online flash sales for sporting goods, and it was possible, but by no means a given, that we could stay in business. A lot of our work is online, but there’s also a lot of physical distribution all over France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and the UK. Our staff were amazing in how they trusted what we were doing and how quickly they adapted to it. Paradoxically, 2020 is turning into a pivotal year for us, in which we’ve accelerated the recruitment of new customers and formed stronger relationships with our partner brands, existing and new, be they multinationals or very small businesses.

From a personal standpoint, I haven’t been able to experience what many have been enjoying: spending every day with my kids... My family was far away and it wasn’t possible to travel. And as I battled the virus myself for a few weeks I did not want to get any closer! It’s a real regret for me, but one that has turned into a strong desire to make up for this missed opportunity.

EA: How did the academic year end at ESSEC under such circumstances?

V. Vinzi: The closure of ESSEC’s four physical campuses in France, Singapore, and Morocco meant we had to solve a complex problem: how to keep delivering quality teaching and training to all of our students and participants... remotely. That was the school’s top priority. We had to mobilise our staff in record time so that the transition went as smoothly and efficiently as possible, for the whole ESSEC community.

The Innovation and K-lab (Knowledge Lab) teams, who are supporting all of the school’s stakeholders with the digitization of teaching methods, played an essential role, mobilising a dedicated team with extra recruits in just a few hours. In partnership with the Dean’s office, a website and information sessions were set up to help professors adapt their teaching methods and familiarise themselves with the tools they would be using. The various stakeholders within ESSEC displayed a lot of investment and solidarity and quickly adapted to this extraordinary situation. And yet, the challenges of e-learning are not limited to IT infrastructure. Professors and speakers worked tirelessly to redesign their courses, so that it was not merely a pale imitation of their classroom teaching, but a new, quality experience in its own right, tailored to an audience learning online.

As of 16 March, CPD students were able to enjoy these online classes. And on 23 March, it was expanded to cover students on all pre-career programmes as part of a 100% online teaching model. It is a shining example or our school’s ability to innovate and adapt.

EA: In parallel, what were ESSSEC Alumni’s priorities?

O. Cantet: Stéphanie Jossermoz  (E94), Managing Director of ESSEC Alumni, and I decided to close our premises and cancel face-to-face events one week before total lockdown hit. We could see what was coming thanks to our alumni in Asia and Italy. That’s when we started to mobilise our permanent staff to relay and support actions taken by our alumni, our students, and the school. And they left nothing to chance. I am extremely proud of what they achieved in urgent conditions, showing lots of creativity in taking new initiatives.

There were three successive phases involving all alumni that sum up this frantic effort: firstly, to assist in mutual support in cases of health, financial, and personal emergencies; then to share our experience (school, experts, managers) to reflect upon and identify signals when faced with the unknown; and lastly to accelerate changes to the association, its tools, and its services so that we could support as many alumni as possible, all over the world.

This mobilisation of the ESSEC network was made possible through a major increase in communication, to share initiatives and good practices for supporting both alumni and ESSEC itself. The Reflets #essecstayconnected newsletter was sent out twice a week (compared to twice a month usually) with record opening rates. Traffic to the essecalumni.com website rocketed. There were also four times as many social media posts on LinkedIn and Facebook.

More than ever before, the role of the association was to bring people together to share ideas and take action. And together, we had more impact.

EA: Was ESSEC itself ready to deliver a digital solution?

V. Vinzi: Undoubtedly. For several years now, one of the key ambitions in our strategy has been to incorporate digital tools into the ESSEC ecosystem. The K-Lab is dedicated to precisely this task, and in 2019 we opened ESSEC’s fifth campus, the augmented digital campus, which is the very best example of this. It offers a real learning experience which is based on both the quality of its content and teaching, and the greater opportunity for students to collaborate. In late 2019 and in partnership with the CY initiative, we also equipped our La Défense campus with Deck-, a revolutionary virtual classroom. The platform delivers a live and interactive experience between professors and students. We were also able to leverage the great many existing MOOCs and SPOCs, continuing to create new courses.

Thanks to these major innovations and the investments made in recent years, our professors and staff already boast significant expertise in online education. We were able to capitalise on this to adapt it to a larger scale in a very short time-frame.

The new academic year and new projects

EA: What will the beginning of the new academic year be like on the various campuses?

V. Vinzi: Academic and student life are the lynchpins of the ESSEC experience, and we think that students will want to get back on campus as soon as possible. Some, however, may be unable to travel to Cergy, La Défense, Singapore, or Rabat due to visa or transport problems, as well as travel restrictions, health problems, or a range of other reasons.

And all of them must be able to continue their course on-campus or online, depending on their individual circumstances, at least for the first term of the new academic year. Indeed it is possible that some students will arrive on campus during the term or semester. This means that we have to provide two forms of teaching and individual support in parallel.

Of course, classroom teaching will be delivered in strict compliance with government health guidelines. Assuming the current measures are to remain in place, we already know that we will not be able to operate the campus at full capacity, in terms of both classrooms and communal areas. To that end, we are currently working on several scenarios, for our students on full-time courses as well as for attendees who are sitting part-time courses. A number of options are on the table that will let us host students both on-campus and online. This requires investment, as well as a lot of planning and effort, especially given that different courses may require different solutions.

EA: And how is September looking for ESSEC Alumni?

O. Cantet: The priority at the beginning of the academic year is to facilitate career development for alumni all over the world, as well as to support students as they join the world of work (internships, apprenticeships, graduate jobs).

A large number of alumni already find themselves needing to change sector, company, or profession. ESSEC Alumni gave its career services an in-depth overhaul in 2019, to be accessible to all and absorb an increase in demand. Alumni can take advantage of one-to-one sessions with one of more than a dozen coaches, in several languages, at our Maison des ESSEC in Paris or online, to suit their preferences and availability. We are also creating more webinars to help alumni take action, leverage the network, and manage their careers. Stephanie Jossermoz has just announced a brand new partnership with Chance, a 100% online digital coaching service. It is the perfect accompaniment to the direct support we offer.

The forced expansion of digital learning has enabled us to advance its adoption by several years, and revealed unexpected resources. We are going to be able to alternate live conferences and online learning, as well as open up our services and events to greater number of alumni. The association has acquired its own Zoom channels, as well as internal expertise, all here to help you do more to advance your career. It’s fast, effective, and wide-ranging.

The new ESSECalumni.com website, up and running for a few months now, has just been joined by a mobile app that anyone can download. We are aiming to have more than 15,000 alumni accounts active on these platforms by the end of the year, and the same number of updated profiles, with the data helping to expand our directory. 

And finally, we are still working on moving out of ESSEC Alumni’s current premises for 2021. However, we have decided not to move too quickly and take time to assess new opportunities in an uncertain property market.

EA: How is the Campus 2020 project coming along?

V. Vinzi: The COVID-19 has led to delays in construction. Asbestos removal as well as demolition of the current sports hall and the office building was due to begin on 18 March, but has been postponed due to the pandemic and the resulting lockdown. Work finally began on 2 June, with the installation of the site trailer that will be overseeing the work. We hope to begin building work, starting with the Sports and Recreation Center, in late October or mid-November.

The pandemic has also led us to rethink how the workspaces of the future will be arranged. We are going to work with the tradesmen and take new requirements into account.

EA: Have you got any new ideas about how to boost ESSEC Alumni services?

O. Cantet: For the past year, our priorities have been to enhance our international networks, support entrepreneurship, and create a lifelong learning programme to accompany career coaching. This meant we had to set up a new internal organisation, which is now in place. 

I would also like to offer greater support to the organisers of our clubs, chapters and circles, as well as to push ahead with the digitization of how we communicate with all of you. ESSEC Alumni is made up of lots of different communities: 23 professional clubs, 73 chapters all over the world, catch-all circles like EWA Boost’, and just as many groups for different academic years and company contacts. The openness and vitality of these communities will be decisive in extending our reach. It is to that end that Stéphanie Jossermoz has boosted our permanent staff by creating three positions to serve as points of contact and facilitators for our three main communities: Veary Ngy for international alumni, Stéphanie Prévost for alumni in France, and Marine Leoni for students. The association has to be customer centric and work to support each of these communities. Major steps have been taken to professionalise our work and facilitate coordination. The alumni community has never been more informed, connected, and close-knit. There is an increasing desire to work with ESSEC Alumni in the long-term. It’s up to you to get involved! If you haven’t already done so, create your account at essecalumni.com to get invitations to our events. And if you want to get involved in coordinating our clubs, chapters, and networks, or launch new ones in your city or country, contact me directly by email at alumni-president@essec.edu. The AGM on 1 October will also be a chance to get together and turn enthusiasm into action!

EA: What happened with exams and admissions tests?

V. Vinzi: With regard to admissions tests, all of the establishments in the Conference of Grandes Ecoles got together to make a joint decision, in close consultation with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation.

As a result, the procedure for the Concours Sésame that grants admission to the Global BBA programme was changed. The admissions test and oral exam were cancelled, and replaced by a dual-assessment of the student’s school record; the first by Parcoursup, and the second by the admissions team at each school.

For the Grande École, written exams have been retained, but we have had to cancel oral exams, for reasons of fairness and scheduling. To compensate for this, we set up online tours of the school (along with the student office and admissions team), and over the next year we will be placing a greater focus on soft skills and developing a career plan.

As for exams for current students, we are offering a wide range of assessment options: oral exams, multiple choice, case studies, group work, online exams... to name but a few. It is up to individual professors to decide what format is most appropriate for their subject and learning outcomes.

Education in question

EA: What further changes can we expect in how ESSEC campuses operate?

V. Vinzi: The COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for us to profoundly rethink how we work. Just as the first industrial revolution forged the education system we have today, we can expect to see a new model emerge in a post-COVID world. The pandemic came as a huge shock to the system, giving all affected (educators, students, decision-makers, and wider society) a better understanding of the gaps and vulnerabilities in our current systems. It highlighted how it was essential to have more digitally-focused services, which are a continuation of changes to physical spaces. This made it clear that online teaching was not only an alternative to classroom-based learning, but an experience in and of itself. The classroom/online blend is set to collide with the status quo that had prevailed up to now. With online learning, individual study will pave the way for optimal remote collaboration, with new forms of online interaction between students and teachers. A range of digital tools simultaneously combine asynchronous formats to reach a large number of students with highly personalised student-centred formats, in small groups.

EA: In a more general sense, what are your take-aways from the pandemic?

V. Vinzi: We have experienced, and are still experiencing today, a period of unprecedented change. This has enabled us to think about what really matters, to see what is essential and what is superfluous, and to reset our priorities. From the outset I have kept our motto, written on our coat-of-arms, in mind: per scientiam ad libertatem, freedom through knowledge. It encapsulates our mission as well as our purpose: to forge individuals bestowed with the freedom to live the life they want. This precious freedom has been hobbled by lockdown, an unprecedented event. We have been able to measure the value of the fundamental freedoms we take for granted, that we don’t think about any more. The superfluous and relative have given way to priorities and necessities. The pandemic made us face difficult questions that changed who we are. We are applying a new set of values to the things we do in both our working and personal lives, on an everyday basis, one that makes the reconciliation of science with conscience more important than ever.

That’s why I think it’s so amazing that this time of restrictions, which forces us to acknowledge our fragility as both individuals and a society, is also a time of unbridled, spontaneous solidarity. I think of all of the things done by members of the ESSEC community to help vulnerable people, carers, underprivileged students... to name but a few. Deep down, there is also something we have to hold on to after the pandemic: that it gave rise to incredible gestures of humanity. We must capitalise on this profoundly intense and disruptive experience.

EA: Do we need to rethink our model?

O. Cantet: There are major expectations to find new solutions to new problems. The “how” is a huge challenge, and one that can only be overcome collectively. If we are to rethink our model, we need committed communities with diverse viewpoints that take innovative action. Rethinking our model must lie at the core of ESSEC Alumni’s mission. The collective intelligence found within the community is an incredible boon. Close collaboration between the school, its professors, and research and teaching chairs must help drive our reflection, helping us to see further, to see things differently. Together, we can have a greater impact and deliver profound changes to how we work. It is impossible not to draw parallels with the history of the association itself, which was founded before the First World War and then relaunched in its immediate aftermath. Unite to build a better world! The suffering experienced today is very different in form, but it presents the same opportunity: by working more closely together, we can lead our companies towards new models that are more inclusive and more sustainable. And by doing so, we will help make the world a better place for everyone.

V. Vinzi: We have a duty to rethink our world. The education community has an enormous role to play in this transformation. The pandemic will be an incredible catalyst for change towards new models of working and learning, as well as social and economic models. The common good, responsibility towards others and the environment, humanity itself, must be returned to its rightful place as the bedrock of our solutions for the future. Our responsibility is to be true to our values so that we can be creative, compassionate, and inspirational!

More than ever before, the coming weeks and years will be characterised by this search for meaning: meaning in what we make, meaning in how we make it, and meaning in what we consume, be that goods, services, data, food products, leisure, or travel. We are seeing it every day in our school: it lies at the heart of our students’ concerns. That is why ESSEC, our school and our community, will rise to the challenges facing the world. Our mission to give meaning to tomorrow’s leadership has never been more relevant. We have to be up to the challenges that present themselves, reaffirm our belief in the future, and put forward innovative solutions for growth that are as sustainable as they are profitable, in order to guarantee a healthy, comfortable future for all of us, something that will not be possible without an effective economy.

EA: How will the role of ESSEC and ESSEC Alumni with regard to students and alumni – as well as teaching staff and the wider world – have to change?

O. Cantet: In light of the personal emergencies that some students find themselves in, we have created the ESSEC Alumni Job Board: an online platform for internship, apprenticeship, and graduate job opportunities exclusively for the ESSEC community. Students are the first to be affected by the uncertainties facing the business world. That is our priority for the next few months. Some are also facing increased financial difficulties in covering their expenses. More than ever before, the excellence of ESSEC courses must be accessible to all. Your donations to the ESSEC Foundation will help us to make this a reality. We will be back with its president, Thierry Fritsch (E80), and Fabienne Riom (E81), its agent general.

We have created a “password” to make it easier to get in touch with each other on social networks, and so that you know when an ESSEC student or graduate is reaching out to you: #ESSECconnect. A few minutes of your time are as valuable to them as they are to you.

In addition to ad hoc career development advice, our alumni have a strong desire to keep learning, broaden their horizons, and add to their expertise throughout their working lives. That is why we will soon be launching a Lifelong Learning programme open to all of you, with support from ESSEC Executive Education, a body that remains little-known within the community despite being a centre of expertise of international renown (Top 5 World Ranking Financial Times). The launch of the augmented digital campus mentioned above by Vincenzo Vinzi is perfect for online learning. We will be back with all you need to know about it by the end of 2020.

We will still be on-campus at ESSEC Alumni every day, to help students take part in classes and experiences like Going Pro. The relaunch of the mentoring programme also got off to a great start just before the pandemic. It is now more important than ever, and is set to be expanded.

EA: What strategy will ESSEC adopt in response to the pandemic?

V. Vinzi: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a number of shortcomings in our societal models. At ESSEC, we recently launched an environmental and social transition strategy called Together, which aims to accelerate our wholehearted commitment to a green reset of the economy. From September, 100% of our students will be trained in social and environmental challenges as part of two dedicated courses. We are also revising all of our core modules (economy, finance, strategy, marketing, accounting, etc.) so that they better encompass these challenges, and we will be expending research in these fields through special research chairs.

The pandemic also showed the importance of digital, whether in online learning or remote working, as well as for a wide range of everyday services that were able to keep running thanks to digital tools: I’m thinking of restaurants that have been able to keep running thanks to deliveries, online doctor’s appointments, and so forth. As for business schools, we have a role to play by standing alongside companies to help them seize the challenges and opportunities that the digital economy presents. 

More broadly, I firmly believe that through our work, we can play an active role in the economic recovery, and in building a more sustainable and environmentally friendly world through innovation, by supporting companies and organisations facing the challenges of COVID-19, informing them of the profound changes that are disrupting the economy and society as a whole, and by training responsible, inclusive leaders who can drive change and growth as soon as they begin their careers.

So, what now?

EA: What’s in store for the education of the future?

V. Vinzi: It is vital that all of our students remain able to reap the rewards of the ESSEC experience’s unique excellence. Our professors’ teaching and delivery methods are evolving together to comply with public health requirements. A new phase is beginning this September, as we are reopening all of our campuses, and welcoming almost 2,500 new students and course attendees. However, social distancing measures and administrative restrictions for our international students and attendees force us to navigate between different kinds of teaching, both classroom and online. How can we guarantee teaching quality and continuity while limiting the number of students per classroom or cancelling auditorium events? It poses a major logistical challenge.

Thankfully, ESSEC can draw on its significant experience in blended learning and dual teaching that combines online and classroom-based learning. This allows us to offert students and participants to attend their classes on-campus or online, according to their individual situation. Online resources are provided in advance, thereby limiting contact time to quality interactions with teaching staff in small groups. By the end of this year, all classrooms will be equipped with cutting edge technology so that courses can run smoothly, online and on-campus, at the same time, facilitated by efficient teaching.

Here, I must highlight the tireless commitment of our professors and programme staff within this complex process, which forces them to very quickly rethink how we work. ESSEC boasts a number of talents, assets, and incredible resources that enable us to successfully cope with this unprecedented crisis.

We are in the process of conducting a survey of our students and professors to gather feedback on how online learning and teaching has been for them these past months. This will enable us to learn from this period so that we can create and test innovative teaching models that will enhance the traditional classroom-based model with various online teaching formats for different courses and audiences. It is clear that “learning through experience” will be a key differentiating factor for ESSEC, whether we are using a 100% classroom, mixed, or 100% online model.

EA: And what about tomorrow’s world?

V. Vinzi: Two factors will be key to emerging from this crisis: economic recovery, as well as education and research.

Education and research, first of all, because that is our core purpose as a business school. Research will be vital. While it is essential that medical research finds a vaccine against the virus as soon as possible, the research we conduct as a business school also has a fundamental role to play. We need to identify new models that can reconcile the necessary relocation of some parts of the production of goods and the continued development of emerging countries, for sustainable growth whose benefits reach as many people as possible. Indeed, this crisis has reminded us just how interconnected our globalised world is, and that the greatest possible stability and prosperity are the best form of protection there is, more effective than all the walls, all the borders, and all the regulations. No country can hope to overcome this crisis at the expense of others.

We also need to teach so that we can train the next generations of responsible, inclusive leaders who can learn the lessons of this crisis and drive the move towards new economic and social models. Naturally, economic recovery is vital to making this transition a success. States and central banks will have a key role to play in limiting the dual shock this crisis inflicts on international supply and demand. It is more important than ever to avoid a collapse in global demand that might trigger a deflationist spiral.

As a school, the talent we train will become a key tool for companies to overcome this crisis, and here I am mainly thinking of SMB that bear the brunt of any recession, be they in France, Europe, Africa, or Asia, and that form the keystones of growth and job creation. For our new graduates, these companies form the ideal proving ground to showcase their broad range of skills, to demonstrate their leadership in roles with concrete responsibilities, and one where they can make their work meaningful.

ESSEC will be there to assist and support companies, organisations, government, and society in facing these major challenges.

EA: There’s a lot of talk about the world after COVID-19. How do you see the post-COVID world?

V. Vinzi: Nobody can say today what the world will be like after the pandemic. What I do know, however, is that it is up to all of us as a school, as a community, as citizens, and as a society, to build it. Because if we refuse to make an effort, we are going to suffer. To do this, we will have to draw on our pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit to innovate and imagine new societal, economic, and behavioural norms, new ways of working, of interacting with each other, of developing new businesses, new products and new services, that will stand the test of time and help combat both poverty as well as inequality and discrimination.

O. Cantet: During Zoom calls with our alumni, I was struck by the unanimity of individual responses to what the world will be like once the virus is under control. Every single one of you told me about new things you would like to do. Going back to the way things were before was never mentioned. Of course, it is easier said than done in the real world. But we have experienced an enforced and often happy restraint. A great many of us want to see an economic recovery that brings an accelerated transition to a greener, more inclusive economy. One that is tenable for all of us. The massive spread of the virus looks less like an accident and more like the result of a certain excess. 

The solutions are not all clear. They will have to be invented and then put into motion. And ESSEC and its alumni are going to be playing their role. It’s a role that we share with Vincenzo Vinzi: to inspire the leaders of today and tomorrow to build a better world based on our humanist values. The school is already committed to this – notably through the Together initiative, which ESSEC Alumni actively supports – and will aim the power of its research in this same direction. So that our alumni can benefit from this, we are also going to share this new direction, in particular through the Lifelong Learning programme. What’s more, new circles of reflection and debate on a wide range of themes (sustainable development, equal opportunities, etc.) may be required to expand on our existing communities. Physical or purely digital networks? Together, we have an opportunity to create it all. So, who’s in? Join us as pioneers on a new path, different to those previously followed!

Interview by Philippe Desmoulins  (E78), Director of ESSEC Publications, and François de Guillebon, Editor of Reflets ESSEC Magazine 

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