Why Become EuRA Quality Seal Accredited?

In 1998, an association was born with the founding principle of raising the standards in the relocation industry; that association was EuRA. 

Over the past ten years, EuRA has worked with its 300 members, the HR community and the EU to develop strategies that would set the delivery of destination services by its members at the very highest level. 

This was no mean undertaking as EuRA members come from all over the world and represent two vastly different business models; nationally based destination service suppliers and global relocation management companies.  So how could an association representing the entire relocation industry draw these models together to provide a uniform set of quality ideals? 

The first step was the implementation of a training qualification aimed at individual relocation professionals.  In the six years since the launch of the European Academy of Relocation Professionals (EARP), over 1000 people have registered to train and more than 300 have reached the second of three levels of qualification.  A very select group of 20 have achieved the highest level (CERP3) and have had their programmes externally validated by the Katholike Hogeschool Leuven University in Belgium.  However, for all its successes this is an individual programme and one not designed to validate the work of an entire company. 

In 2007, EuRA strengthened its work on a standardisation of relocation service delivery models, with the goal of re-approaching the EU to validate a professional relocation designation for its member companies. 

But, having brought together 18 expert relocation directors, leaders in their markets from all over the world, the collective knowledge gained became the final step towards a quality standard system.  Having partnered with DQS in Europe and ICUNet globally, we were able to develop and implement an ISO equivalent, relocation specific, quality standard; the EuRA Quality Seal. 

  • Why Get The EuRA Quality Seal? 

The benefits of being externally quality audited are well proven, and partnering with both European and Global ISO auditors, gives the EuRA Quality Seal an unbeatable pedigree.  We have worked hard with our accreditation partners to ensure the EuRA Quality Seal represents great value for money and have developed three tiers of fees depending on the turnover of the company. 
This means that for as little as €800 a year, relocation providers are able to assert their dedication to quality to the corporate and procurement markets. 

But more importantly, this investment in the audit gives members a route to an extraordinary level of management consultancy that they may not be able to access elsewhere.  The audit process is collaborative, and the expertise of the auditors enables participants to gain extraordinarily valuable business guidance from leaders in the field of process management. 

Streamlined processes reduce costs.  EuRA members who have successfully gained the EuRA Quality Seal have cited this as one of the main benefits of the programme.  A comprehensive and defined methodology for the delivery of relocation services was one of the primary goals in the development of the Quality Seal, and our service delivery manual helps to define the remit of effective, buyable services. 

One of the greatest challenges we face in our professional lives is the efficient management of the engines that drive our companies.  Whatever we deliver in our businesses, the development and maintenance of the processes that enable us to be the best in our markets are almost more complex than the products we deliver.  The EuRA Quality Seal delivers solutions for the successful management of running our companies.  It’s as simple as that. 

Marketing services in relocation, to both the relocation management community and to the corporate client, rely on past and future delivery excellence.  Having an external validation of excellence is another way in which the EuRA Quality Seal opens doors and sets a measurable benchmark for successful companies.  Having the EuRA Quality Seal logo on printed and virtual materials is already working as a marketing tool for the members who have qualified, and helps them to make their presence more keenly felt in an increasingly competitive and stressed marketplace. 

EuRA makes no money from the Quality Seal. 

This project has been developed to strengthen and preserve the business interests of all those involved in the delivery of relocation services and enables them to reassure the corporate client of the value of professionally managed domestic and international mobility programmes.   

In this uncertain economic climate, the value of an externally audited seal of excellence is no longer a luxury; it is a core marketing and value-led technique to retain and grow the provision of relocation services. 

Dominic Tidey
EuRA Operations Manager LLB, MA, CERP3