This episode of the EMEA Recruitment podcast welcomes not one, but two guests – Jan Werkman and Jim Reinhardt, who are both Managing Partners of Reinhardt Werkman & Partners in Switzerland.

“Being good at a time is not being good over time.”

Together, Jan and Jim have 50 years’ collective experience in Finance. Although they ended up in the same place, they tell two very different stories.

Jim explains how he left his hometown of Nebraska to work for General Electric in the 1980s, before moving around in different business units – always in Finance – to see a lot of the USA. He took a chance on a project that led him to Australia, and also enabled him to see a “huge chunk” of Asia.

This is when Jim met his Swiss partner, who he married and started a family with. They then moved to Switzerland, where he’s been ever since.

Jan, on the other hand, was born, raised and educated in the Netherlands, where he studied Economics. He was attracted by taxation and fiscal economics, so started his career in tax. Jan followed his then girlfriend, now wife, to Brussels, before taking an opportunity to move to Switzerland.

Their wives were the reason that Jim and Jan met in the first place. They were good friends who introduced Jim and Jan to one another. When they both decided to start a business, they knew they didn’t want to do it alone.

Although they had different cultural experiences, they saw this as a benefit. With a common background in Finance, they were able to define their target market and work through challenges together.

They discuss with Paul Toms, our Founder, how their business has been affected by COVID-19, alongside being in the midst of a digital transformation.

We speak about the move within the Finance sector to business partnering and its potential longevity within the industry. Both Jan and Jim are also passionate about continued education for Finance professionals and who’s pushed them to be better in their disciplines.

Paul gets into the nitty gritty of whose surname they decided would come first in their business name, and decides who has the most inspirational quote to end the episode on.

We hope you find this episode about two Finance professionals setting up their own business interesting – please share with anyone in your network who you think would enjoy it.

These timestamps will help you find the part of the episode you’re looking for:

02:09 – Jim’s journey through Finance
05:16 – Jan’s background in tax
07:32 – Deciding to start a business together
09:34 – The challenges and learning curves they’ve faced
17:43 – How COVID-19 has affected the Swiss market
22:40 – Moving towards a data driven society
25:44 – Business partnering in Finance
28:47 – Why reading is so important
32:16 – The time, place and culture that formed Jim
38:00 – Jan’s greatest influences
39:50 – The importance of trust
42:30 – Deciding whose surname came first
44:06 – Advice for those thinking of starting a business
48:45 – The company’s mission statement
52:16 – Jim and Jan’s ideal podcast guests
55:30 – Inspirational quotes
56:58 – How to reach out to Jim and Jan

Listen to the full episode here:

Or at: https://emearecruitment.libsyn.com/emea-recruitment-podcast-66-jan-werkman-jim-reinhardt

You can find out more about Reinhardt Werkman & Partners here: https://rwpartners.ch/

We’re proud to bring you the EMEA Recruitment podcast in partnership with international medical charity Operation Smile. To support this incredible cause, please follow this link: https://www.emearecruitment.com/pages/operation-smile

This latest Finance podcast episode was hosted by Paul Toms, our Founder, and Jenny Callum, Executive Recruiter and Senior Consultant.

To find out more about us, visit: https://www.emearecruitment.com/

Or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/

To connect with Paul, click here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/

And Jenny: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycallumemea

If there are any questions or topics you’d like to learn more about in future episodes of the EMEA Recruitment podcast, please let us know via LinkedIn.