Lincoln: The international and independent HR consultancy supports leaders and managers

Founded in 1992, Lincoln is a talent management consultancy whose mission is to support managers and leaders throughout their professional life cycle. Thanks to its excellent understanding of the economy and the HR sector, and to its peoplecentric vision, Lincoln acts as a day-to-day adviser to talent from all sectors: Corporate Finance, Digital & Technology, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Financial Services & Capital Investment.

Lincoln has now 12 offices including one in Zurich for four years and another one in Geneva, and primarily advises in the area of financial services, to Insurance, Reinsurance, brokers and insurtech to wealth management, legal related positions, industry, consulting and technology. Led by highly effective Talent Agents who are hand-picked, trained in-house and specialists in their sector, the group assists talented men and women in areas as varied as Leadership Advisory (coaching, training, outplacement, retirement support), Executive Search and Executive Interim Management.

thebroker talks to Caroline de La Cochetière, General Manager of Lincoln’s Zurich office, and Lincoln’s talent agent Jenny Rachel Kollmann.

Caroline de La Cochetière (CdLC), how long have you been with the Lincoln Group and what did you do before you took over the management of the Zurich office four years ago?

After working for 12 years as a Legal Counsel in the Insurance sector, I joined Lincoln in 2016, initially in Paris, to assist the organization in identifying and recruiting top actors and leaders in the European market.

Subsequently, in 2019, due to family commitments, I relocated to Zurich. Recognizing an opportunity, Lincoln entrusted me with the responsibility of establishing a new branch in Zurich. This endeavor, while challenging, has been successful, resulting in the establishment of trust and confidence among our clients. Our focus has been on developing a talent pool centered around meaningful and long-term connections.

Today, our team, which operates out of both Zurich and Geneva, consists of five exceptional dedicated professionals. We specialize in supporting clients in Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Legal sectors through the entire recruitment process, offering valuable market insights.

Our aim is to be more than just an executive search boutique; we strive to be a business partner that stands alongside our Talent community.

Jenny Rachel Kollmann (JRK), after a career as a teacher and 8 years in the Real Estate sector, why did you join Lincoln?

During my 2 years of podcasting and building a community, I realized I was connecting people and jobs too, so when I met Caroline and Lincoln, I could recognize some common values. At Lincoln we are here to advise the people, and to help them outside our assignments too. I am the typical example that you can reinvent yourself if you put your mind and efforts into it. I could recognize the same DNA: a desire to accompany and guide individuals, also to advise our partners to more gender equity and representation in their teams. I like to bring the Human angle before the Resources when I meet a professional, and I enjoy contemplating at the innovations and transformations within the recruitment sectors.

CdLC: Who exactly are your clients?

Most of our clients are reinsurance companies with offices in Switzerland, insurance companies, captives, MGAs, insurtechs, and large international brokerage firms, banks…

CdLC: You accompany executives and managers throughout their professional careers. Tell us more about this.

At Lincoln, our core philosophy centers around nurturing long-term and trust-based relationships. We understand that each professional’s journey is unique, which is why we offer personalized guidance tailored to individual aspirations and circumstances. Our approach is anchored in active listening and leveraging sophisticated in-house assessment tools. This enables us to prepare and support Executives and Managers during key moments in their careers effectively.

We also recognize the importance of integrating modern technology in our services. Our digital solutions are designed to address a wide range of HR needs, making our support both accessible and efficient. But beyond just career advancement, we’re committed to making a positive impact on our community and society at large.

CdLC: Do you also place clients abroad and where?

Yes, our HQ is in France, but we have offices in 10 countries across the globe. From Switzerland we are really focusing on the DACH region and Luxembourg.

JRK: Lincoln provides assessment tools and modules for leadership development. What are they and what are they for?

Lincoln has developed over the last 30 years a complete in-house toolbox: the assessments called „Tale me More“ are helped with AI and neuroscience researches, it helps a talent find his tendencies, leadership DNA, and find his professional profile best. Talent-e is a tool that helps your personal branding on LinkedIn: talent-e creates your posts and articles to reshare based on your preferences. On career coaching we work along the Parisian team of Leadership advisory that can coach all talents through their careers, we also have local partners. Finally, our Talent Insider program is to help the talents being at their right place in a company, we are assessing your zones of comfort, in a bottom-up and exclusive way.

JRK: Lincoln is one of the founding members of the French association „A Compétences Egale“ (Equal Qualification). How do you fight against discrimination?

First of all, I am part of different gender equality associations like „Women in Tech“ for example, and this passion arrived after contemplating at the Swiss landscape and the now sadly famous opportunity and salary gaps. In general, I believe in the same opportunities for the same skills. Lincoln is a founding member of “A compétences égales” since 2006 and the association fights discrimination of all types, providing tools (scanning job desks), coaching on how to prevent discrimination at work.

CdLC: Four women work in the Zurich office. What differences do you perceive in the placement of women and men?

The differences in the placement of women and men often stem from historical, societal, and organizational factors. Women, traditionally underrepresented in senior roles and certain industries, face unique challenges such as unconscious bias, lack of mentorship, or limited access to networking opportunities.

At Lincoln, our commitment to gender parity and diversity is exemplified by our recent collaboration with Lucille Desjonquères, a renowned entrepreneur and advocate for increasing female representation on corporate boards. This partnership underlines our dedication to nurturing female talent and championing their ascent to senior roles, in accordance with the EU’s “Women On Boards” directive.

CdLC: Don’t women often „sell themselves short“?

Yes, it’s a commonly observed phenomenon that women may tend to „sell themselves short“ during the recruitment process, and this behavior can be attributed to several factor

• Confidence in Qualifications: Research has shown that women often apply for a job only when they meet all the listed qualifications, while men may apply even if they meet only some of them. This difference in confidence can lead to women not pursuing opportunities they are actually qualified for.
• Self-Promotion: Women might be less inclined to engage in self-promotion or to highlight their achievements and skills aggressively during interviews or on resumes.
• Negotiating Salaries: Women are generally less likely to negotiate salary offers.
• Impostor Syndrome: This is a phenomenon where individuals doubt their accomplishments and fear being exposed as a „fraud.“ It is more commonly reported among women and can lead to underestimating their own competence and achievements.
• Lack of Role Models and Mentors: In male-dominated fields, the lack of female role models and mentors can impact women’s perception of their own potential and career aspirations.

At Lincoln, we’re deeply committed to addressing these challenges and working with organizations to foster more inclusive recruitment processes. We recognize that addressing issues like unconscious bias, creating gender-neutral job descriptions, and providing mentorship programs is essential in creating a fair and equitable workplace.

JRK: Why are there still so few women in management positions?

I see two main issues here: how this kind of decisions are being made? And the nature of the roles themselves.

Your statement is right, and we can be conscious that recommendation or helping someone from our network is still a common practice in Switzerland, and we all have bias on the way we picture leaders: dedicated, hard workers, maybe directive still. Some tend to project the idea of a man, with that many years of leadership experiences. I want to tell the women to train this same leadership and ask for the same raises along their careers.

The nature of a management role: with more people comes more responsibilities. Taking care of teams isn’t always the most rewarding task. As a manager, your role is to get your teams to perform better. Nowadays, we also hear men not interested anymore in having big management. I think we are beginning to question the titles and the vertical organizations, even if the big corporates are not yet touched by this topic.

JRK: Do you also place women and men over the age of 50 or 60?

Many of the talents we meet have fantastic, rich careers, and we never ask for their age! We will ask for what they are willing to do, and if someone says he’s interested in a role, we take it that he or she is ready to put the efforts in it, regardless of the age. Last year, we placed a couple of top-level executives this age, and it was a big pride. This is thanks to our dear clients, that are clever and know how to mix generations, prepare the next one, and take the best energy and ethics from the ones close to retirement. The aging workforce is a strong argument for our clients to recruit, our second challenge is to have more students joining insurance education and attracted to the field. (We initially launched in France – soon in Switzerland – „Bienvenue“: a program aimed at those aged 50 and over who are going through a period of professional vulnerability. Specifically, our team of talent agents will be by your side to coach you, provide you with practical tools, help you showcase your profile, and make you visible to recruiting companies.)

CdLC: How should this age group, which is often rather difficult to place, present itself best?

1. Highlight Experience: Emphasize the depth and breadth of their experience. They should showcase their career achievements, leadership roles, and any unique experiences that younger candidates might not possess. This can be a compelling selling point, as they bring a wealth of knowledge and perspective.
2. Demonstrate Adaptability and Current Skills
3. Show Energy and Commitment
4. Focus on Mentoring and Leadership Abilities

By focusing on these areas, older professionals can effectively showcase their value and dispel any misconceptions about their age. It’s about presenting themselves not just as senior candidates, but as adaptable, energetic, and continuously evolving Talents.

JRK: You specialize in the insurance sector, among others. How many people do you place from this sector each year?

Within my first year, I had 6 openings in Underwriting or CUO on different lines of business (P&C, Cyber, Marine, Energy…), a Head of Claims, a Head of Compliance, some roles related to climate risks and sustainability, some officers technical roles, some HR roles on insurance too, some commercial roles for a broker, other strategical or developer roles for insurtech.

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