The Indian look - conflict settler
Hailing from a small village in Mauritius to becoming the CEO of PSC In Luxembourg
My name is Raginee Poloogadoo, and I am the CEO of Pro Solve Consulting. I have accreditations for conducting mediations in civil, commercial, and penal matters by the ministry of Justice, and for socio-family mediations from the ministry of Family and Integration in Luxembourg. I am also holder of an LLB, PgD of International Trade law, Mediator License and MA for communication in multilingual and multicultural contexts.
Before I started studying law, I had a dream of helping parties achieve fairness in their legal proceedings. With time, I discovered that I merely needed to consider my client's best interests, not only have solutions.
I hail from Mauritius and I shifted to Luxembourg for family reasons in 2012. That year Luxembourg adopted the EU directive on mediation. The term “mediation" wasn’t familiar to me. The more I learnt about mediation, the more I became interested in the subject. I could see the opportunity of doing what I initially always wanted to do: finding win-win solutions to both parties. Thus, I decided to professionally re-orient from being a jurist to becoming a mediator.
In mediation there is flexibility of negotiation, discussion, dialogue facilities and possibility of repairing or re-establish relations between parties. Mediation is flexible, confidential, time and cost effective. I've been trained as a mediator to address these conflictual circumstances in a neutral, autonomous, private, and impartial manner.
I am passionate about conflicts, them being complex puzzles that I enjoy solving. Sometimes people have difficulties to retain my name, so I am often referred as “the Indian look conflict settler.” My dream is that PSC becomes THE leading mediation company in Luxembourg.
The idea of creating a business
Entrepreneur grit from the coloured mediator in Luxembourg
I do mediation since several years. With time I could see that the demography of Luxembourg is changing. A change in society is a change for behaviour as well. There are multiple features that can bring change in society or life but when simultaneously a country is in growth in multi facets, sooner or later there will be clashes in societies due to certain of the features. In Luxembourg, the multiculturalism and multilingualism are not only good factors but can be problematic factors as well. For instance, when there are cultural clashes or language barrier for communication, conflicts are bound to happen.
Personnel educated to resolve conflicts of this sort are very rarely found in communes, organizations, or institutes because there was little demand for them in the past. But with globalization and armed conflicts in certain countries, Luxembourg’s population, and society as well as human behaviours are changing.
I believe that in conflictual situations, it is more appropriate to take recourse a mediator rather than directly opting for the judicial system. Lots of problems can be resolved if dialogues are facilitated and there is communication. I can get mean between parties and this where I offer my expertise. PSC offers mediation services to help fast growing societies in solving conflicts between neighbours or colleagues at workplace.
In a nutshell, I would say that if I could change my career direction, why can't I start my own business? I have the necessary skills and I am passionate about resolving disputes.
I was aware that the road to entrepreneurship can occasionally be difficult, but the effort to become an entrepreneur is boosted when the confidence and conviction for making a difference, the determination to add value to the resources of organizations as well as the support of our own ones are present. So, in March 2021, Pro Solve Consulting (PSC) was formalized.
My business activity
PSC is a mediation and consulting firm.
At PSC we do mediation in different spheres for instance,
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neighbourhood disputes,
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land and property disputes,
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family disputes such as custodial disputes where separation and divorces are involved,
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work conflicts (harassments, discrimination, hierarchical, prejudices, absenteeism),
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rent and collection issues,
basically, in any field where a conflict is present, we try to solve it by finding win-win solutions.
With our multilingual and multicultural team, we offer professional mediation services, providing a framework for amicable dispute resolution. From complaint to resolution, Pro Solve Consulting neutrally and confidentially resolves interhuman problems, helping to resolve issues through communication.
PSC offers a social mediation service within communes to resolve neighbourhood conflicts, hence reducing their workload in this field as well as, maintaining their neutrality, their impartiality and demonstrate their good faith towards their citizens with this free service. An extra service for communes to enhance a better-quality life in the society.
Providing a unique-one kind of mediation service that is independent from the commune but assisting the communes to manage their residents’ conflicts.Raginee
PSC helps organizations resolve work conflicts by providing an independent body to handle internal environmental conflicts, allowing colleagues/peers/administrators to express themselves without judgment because confidentiality is assured.
We attempt to improve life without judicial conflict resolution. We also assist HR in cases of absenteeism, bullying, bias, discrimination, and harassment.
Another of your competences is socio-family mediation: we assist with child custody, divorce, separation, and recovery (lease, rental, etc.).
The journey to make my business a reality
I would speak on two segments per my personal experience.
In terms of establishing a venture, there is lots of support for business creation in Luxembourg from House of entrepreneurship, University Incubators, Nyuko, Chamber of Commerce, Maison des Association etc. an alumni from uni.lu at Belval, the university incubator offered me the requisite infrastructure (office address and space) to set up the company. House of Entrepreneur assisted in the formalities. Nyuko accompanied me during the process from the initial idea till the company was set up. Nyuko, Belval Incubator and the House of Entrepreneur were of tremendous support for the start.
The second part, that was a bit challenging. Speaking for myself, the support from my personal circle (Astrid Scharpantgen, Isabelle Frisch, Joelle Ferber to whom I seize this opportunity and say a heartfelt thank you) was considerable. Their encouragement enabled me to make a step to provide mediation services in communes. Luxembourg is small and to certain extent still conservative. To be able to access the “communes” market, one needs to be introduced to the local political decision makers to present the proposed service and only then if interest and demand is there then you can make it.
Ultimately, I would say once you have a precedent, a good track record, doors start to open. To me it is important to let my quality of work speak for myself. Once I felt established at the communes, I started diversifying my target market: proposing civil mediation to companies for work conflicts, commercial and family.
Let’s talk about achievements!
Coming from a small village girl in Mauritius to being the CEO of Pro Solve Consulting makes me very proud. PSC has partnered with different entities such as Kayl, Esch... to provide mediation services. These entities have at heart the vision for their residents to have a peaceful and non-conflicting environment. In the private sector, I do work conflict mediation for several companies which I am bound by ethics not to reveal the names. And as already mentioned I do mediation for “bail & location recouvrement” as well as families and private individuals.
Last year I got the privilege of sharing my mediation research at the World Mediators Forum, Lisboa, Portugal. The research was very well perceived by international peers and will soon be published in a peer-reviewed journal “LexElectronica.”
Personally, every time I successfully close a mediation case, I feel proud to bring a smile to people`s faces and to have helped them bury a conflict peacefully.Raginee
What better achievement can I have other than that, feeling both at a professional and a personal level?
Raginee’s advice for future entrepreneurs
Where there is a will, there is a way! Keep persevering!
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If you are passionate at what you do and know that you can bring a change, then go for it!
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The first step is always difficult but with determination, the moment you put forward the first step just keep moving.
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Through challenges and setbacks, we strive forward.
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Never be discouraged with difficulties you will encounter in your entrepreneurship journey; they are your silent booster to strive forward and
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always do believe in yourself! I always say to myself: Yes, I can, and I will do it!
Raginee and her bank
Prior to be a client at Spuerkeess, I was with another bank in Luxembourg both for my personal and my business account. I approached Spuerkeess to open a business account at the beginning of 2022. Because I was already working with communes and "local entities" at the time, I wanted to engage with a local financial institution. I found the process very interesting, and I could see the seriousness behind the endeavours for instance the scrutiny process for opening the account. The assistance was impeccable from my local branch. The staff was very helpful and gave advice and assistance accordingly.
I meanwhile have both my personal and business accounts at Spuerkeess and I am very satisfied with their services. I am very happy to collaborate with Spuerkeess.
Nyuko has signed a partnership with Spuerkeess, in order to foster entrepreneurial spirit and strengthening the bank's position with company founders from the start of their businesses. More info in our article: https://www.spuerkeess.lu/en/blog/experts-corner/nyuko-fostering-entrepreneurial-spirit/.
