French energy group Engie has set up an innovative recruitment model, which it is publicising in a major ad campaign with the tagline “You are the energy the world needs”.

Selecting job applicants based on their soft skills means going beyond looking at diplomas, credentials or even experience. An individual's interpersonal skills now play a crucial role in ensuring that an applicant is the right person for the job.

Engie describes this ideal profile as the 5^th element, in reference to the four elements that make up the resources used by the group: water, sun, earth and wind.

This experiment in hiring new staff builds on “Leaders for Tomorrow”, Engie's programme for its future corporate leaders. Soft skills also hold a central place in the leadership programme, as an employee's interpersonal skills are key to being selected for this talent detection programme.

In a survey of 200 HR directors, conducted in January 2017 by consulting firm Robert Half, 52% of respondents stated that they give equal, or even greater, importance to soft skills than to technical skills.