Guillermo Ruiz has been part of the GH Mexico family for fifteen years. He started as a stock clerk and, after holding different management positions, he is the current Deputy Director of Operations and Business. In the following interview we get to know about his career in detail.
When did you start working at GH?
The exact date was the thirteenth of March 2007, more or less six months after finishing my degree in Industrial Engineering and coming to Querétaro in search of an opportunity. That first opportunity was given to me by Juan Maria Azcona, at that time director of GH Mexico. He hired me as a stock clerk. Since then, GH has been a part of my life and has helped me grow.
“Since I started working fifteen years ago, GH has been a part of my life and has helped me grow.”
Why did you choose to study for the Industrial Engineering degree?
For my mother, to be honest. I really wanted to be a police officer, and, in fact, I actually started in the academy. However, after five months there, things took a turn for the worse and I decided to leave. I returned home feeling that I had failed my mother and forced myself to study something to make up for it. I couldn’t say why I chose the Industrial Engineering degree, but I immediately began to like it and become motivated. So much so that I managed to finish with a good mark.
What did you know about GH before starting to work with us?
I didn’t know anything at all. In fact, a few days before starting, I remember seeing a truck on the motorway transporting a huge beam that caught my attention, but I didn’t know what it was for. When I arrived at GH and saw girders of the same dimensions in their premises, that was when I realised that they were used for the construction of cranes.
You started out as a stock clerk but today you are Deputy Director of Operations and Business. Tell us about that evolution.
Without a doubt, the person who has helped me grow and evolve is Pere García Ventura, current General Manager of GH Mexico. When he joined the management, I had been in the warehouse for more than a year and I immediately saw that his presence was going to be good for the company and for me. Pere has been the person who has trusted me and given me the opportunity to work in different posts up to my current position. At the same time, I think that starting as a stock clerk for GH has helped me a lot in my career because it allowed me to get to know about the nuts and bolts of the product we sell.
“Starting as a stock clerk for GH has helped me a lot in my career because it allowed me to get to know about the nuts and bolts of the product”
What does your job currently consist of?
In management we do many different things: we establish the guidelines, we check that all the areas work correctly, we monitor the objectives and, if these are not met, we look for a solution. We also support the sales area and mediate when there is a problem with a customer. I also try to advise and help Pere as much as I can.
How has GH Mexico changed since you joined the company?
GH Mexico has changed and grown a lot since I joined. You have to realise that in 2007 we were only selling fifteen cranes a year, we had few customers and we were not very well known. Now, in contrast, we sell more than a hundred pieces of equipment a year and our brand is well-known in Mexico. That’s perhaps why this year will be the best ever for GH Mexico. By July we had already invoiced what we normally do in a year.
Congratulations, that’s particularly commendable given that these are not easy times. The truth is that the last two years have been very difficult. Between the pandemic and political uncertainty, the economy has been paralysed in Mexico and, as a consequence, many companies have had to close down. Fortunately, we have never stopped working or had to make anyone redundant. We are the same eighty people who were working here before the pandemic. I think it is something that speaks very highly of our organisation.
“Our greatest asset is to have satisfied customers, because they will either buy from you or they will recommend you”
What can you tell us about the GH Mexico team?
Although there are always things to improve, I think we are a great team that maintains the essence and values of our parent company. You could say that we are a big family.
So, despite how well everything is going at the moment, you think there is room for improvement?
Of course. My maxim is to always think that you can do better. That’s why our main goal is to convince all those companies looking for a quote that our solution is the best. “I always think that our greatest asset is to have satisfied customers, because they will either buy from you or they will recommend you”
Finally, what advice would you give to young people who are just starting their careers and who would like to grow professionally as you have?
To my colleagues who have been in this great company for a short time and who don’t know or aren’t sure what their future professional careers may hold, I encourage you not to give up and to wholeheartedly seek to achieve your goals. Because, as they say, those who endure will succeed!
