Helping relocated executives and their families to settle and feel at home in the Lyon region, this is Martine Ruiz’s speciality, now extended to cover the whole of France. The name of the profession, in both English and French: “relocation”.
“Relocation” – the word which is now used in French too – is the professional term for all the practical steps involved in executive mobility. “The definition of relocation? It means a change of situation, of place of residence,” explains Martine Ruiz. And although no specific qualifications exist for this activity, it is indeed a true profession requiring a serious level of knowledge and skills. Doing everything appropriate to help newly arrived executives to settle into their new environment, this is what Martine Ruiz has been involved in since 1987. She started as a free-lance worker, after coming into contact with the profession during the course of her work at the time, and then in 1992 created the company Martine Ruiz International. This company attends to assistance with finding accommodation (rental or purchase), the practical details of daily life (banking, utilities, etc) immigration (visa, work permit, residence card, administrative procedures and so on) including children’s schools (choice of school and registration) and finding work for the spouse. The cost of these services is “between 1,000 and 4,500 euros,” says Martine, who is originally from Toulouse, “but in general we can say it is around 2,000 euros.” “This year,” she adds, “we will have handled almost 200 cases.” The former in-company English-language teacher acknowledges that she relies on a system of networking, based on excellent relationships. The network? An obvious need, as she does not deny. On the contrary: “I work more and more in this way.” And indeed “with a Parisian colleague, we are working on a partnership organisation, which should start up during the first quarter of 2005.”
A new address, a new team and a partnership in Paris
In the National Union of Relocation and Mobility Professionals (1), of which
she is a member, Martine Ruiz is in charge of the commission dealing with the
1% of the salary budget which French companies must allocate to housing, with
relations with the European union for the profession, and even with the Chamber
of Consulting Engineers of France. She does not hesitate to delegate work to
outside consultants, who are paid according to the task. This type of assistance
complements the new structure she has recently set up, at a new address (in
Rue Tronchet, in the 6th district of Lyon), where two people now assist this
working mother. Judging from the list of clients, the services offered by Martine
Ruiz seem to be appreciated by large companies, such as, in no particular order,
Aventis Pasteur, Merial, Lafarge, Protravel, Bio Mérieux, Ciba SC or
Accenture. But they are not alone: a new trend is appearing. “We are working
more and more with small and medium-sized companies,” Martine explains.
“It seems that companies of all sizes have realised that with the 1% for
housing, they have considerable aid for mobility, and real impetus towards this
in general.” Another trend is the development of the Franco/French market.
National mobility is really taking off. “Only a few years ago, the proportion
of foreigners to French people was around 70-30. Nowadays, it is 50-50.”
The typical client? Difficult to define. “They are often senior executives.
Otherwise, each case is different.” Inter-cultural training needs to be
added to her profession, she argues, “to explain better our French way
of life.” Martine Ruiz is determined to offer to the various HRD –
with whom she works closely – “different approaches, relating to
individual or group mobility.” The aim of relocation? To be able to appreciate
the new environment. And that is a strong point in favour of Lyon and its region.
“I realise that people enjoy being here. We must not forget that our rôle
is to compensate for missing one’s own part of the world, for a certain
homesickness. And I know of only very few people having difficulties in our
region.”
As for the skills required, apart from the human aspect “which is fundamental
and essential,” she insists, many abilities are needed: a perfect command
of English, a good network, strong relationships, pragmatism, great flexibility,
and above all, as in all types of business, high quality of service.