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In a constantly evolving work environment, understanding people's professional motivations and interests has become essential to ensure their fulfillment and performance. This article delves into the topic through an interview with Yves Duron and Zwi Segal, creators of the MOTIVA solutions (Which Career For Me – Professional and Student). These experts share their insights on the importance of exploring the deep drivers that energize individuals - whether young people seeking their first career direction or professionals in transition. Discover how MOTIVA solutions help align personal aspirations with labor market demands, integrating advanced technologies like artificial intelligence to offer tailored development paths and enhance support in this area.

How do you view the evolution of the world of work in recent years?

We are undergoing a profound, rapid, and irreversible transformation. The world of work has experienced an unprecedented structural shift, accelerated by three major forces: 

• Technological Revolution and AI: Automation, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms are redefining jobs, required skills, and even the concept of “work.” Hybrid technical profiles are increasingly sought after, and continuous learning has become a core skill. 
• Changing Individual Expectations: New generations - and even seasoned professionals - are no longer just looking for a job, but for meaning, flexibility, and recognition. This is the era of “motivation fit”: aligning deep individual aspirations with the professional environment is now a performance driver. 
• Erosion of Traditional Reference Points: Linear careers, lifelong permanent contracts, vertical hierarchies - all are fading. Work is becoming more fragmented, agile, and personalized. This calls for new, individualized support tools like Which Career For Me powered by MOTIVA, which go beyond assessing skills to explore each person’s deep drivers. 

We’ve shifted from a world of qualifications to a world of mobilization. The key today? Understanding what makes people want to engage, learn, and contribute meaningfully. 

Why is it important to consider people's professional motivations and interests? 

This is a crucial question, touching the very heart of sustainable performance, well-being, and professional fulfillment. For decades, individuals were mainly evaluated based on their skills or experience. But research and field observations now show that it’s not what people can do that makes them perform and engage - it’s what they want to do. 

Here’s why motivations and interests are so critical: 

1. Engagement Cannot Be Forced A person may be competent but disengaged. Conversely, someone who is motivated will strive to grow, invest, and contribute beyond the minimum. Motivation drives involvement. 
2. Professional Interests Guide Perseverance When tasks align with our true interests, effort becomes enjoyable, and obstacles are easier to overcome. Interest is a lever for resilience and longevity in a role. 
3. Key to Adapting to Change As careers become less linear, sustainable transitions require internal motivation. Self-awareness enables better rebound. 
4. Source of Workplace Well-being When people are aligned with their work, they are calmer, more focused, and more satisfied. Motivation supports psychological health.
5. Foundation of a Winning HR Strategy For companies, understanding individual drivers improves recruitment, retention, and talent development. Teams are no longer managed with job descriptions but with real knowledge of people. 

Considering motivations and interests is not a “soft” option - it’s a strategic necessity in a world where skills evolve, but meaning remains the individual’s compass.

Your MOTIVA solutions address motivations and interests for both adults and youth aged 16–25. Is there really no age limit to exploring one’s key motivational drivers? 

Absolutely. There’s no age limit to questioning what deeply motivates us. From thousands of coaching sessions using MOTIVA, we’ve seen that the quest for meaning, desire, and personal alignment spans all generations. Whether it’s a 16-year-old wondering about their academic future or a 45-year-old professional in transition, the question remains: What makes me want to get up in the morning and act with energy and conviction? 

Which Career For Me powered by MOTIVA serves all ages, for different reasons: 

• For youth (16–25): It lays the foundation. Understanding professional interests and discovering true motivations helps clarify choices in education, training, or first jobs. 
• For adults: Motivations evolve with time, responsibilities, and life changes. MOTIVA helps reassess and realign choices with internal drivers, sometimes reinventing career paths.

Motivation is a lifelong thread - not a fixed trait. It’s a living energy that must be listened to, nurtured, and adjusted throughout life. Which Career For Me powered by MOTIVA is a powerful self-awareness tool for making more informed, lasting, and satisfying decisions. 

You say “Motivation is a skill that can be developed,” which is also the title of your book published by Pearson France. How is it a skill, and how can it be developed? 

Yes, in our book Motivation is a Skill That Can Be Developed, we assert that motivation is not a passive state or fixed personality trait - it’s a skill. Like any skill, it can be learned, cultivated, and strengthened.

Why is motivation a skill? 

Because it meets three key criteria common to all human skills: 

1. It’s Based on Identifiable Mechanisms Motivation isn’t mysterious: It’s structured around clear factors: professional interests, values, psychological needs, and perceived enabling or blocking contexts. 
2. It Can Be Influenced and Developed: You can learn to motivate yourself, just like learning to communicate or manage time. 
3. It involves knowing your internal drivers, activating them, and implementing strategies to create engagement-friendly conditions. It Produces Measurable Effects Well-developed motivation leads to more energy, perseverance, resilience, and direct impact on performance and well-being. 

How can motivation be developed? 

The MOTIVA method supports this through three main steps: 

1. Identify Deep Motivations: Using rigorous psychometric tools, Which Career For Me powered by MOTIVA reveals professional interests, core values, sources of satisfaction, and demotivating situations. 
2. Understand the Gap Between Self and Current Context: Many disengagements stem from a mismatch between who we are and what we experience at work.The tool highlights these gaps, revealing frustrations and action paths. 
3. Build a Development or Adjustment Plan: This could involve job adjustments, career changes, skill development, environment shifts, or even posture evolution.

The goal is to make the person the active agent of their motivation. Motivation isn’t luck - it’s a dynamic that can be built. And like any skill, the more you work on it, the more natural, powerful, and lasting it becomes.

Your career development solutions also incorporate AI. At what level? 

AI is profoundly changing our relationship with work and naturally integrates into career guidance and development tools.  MOTIVA uses AI in a targeted way - not to replace humans, but to better serve them. 

How does MOTIVA use AI? 

To Enhance Matching Between Motivations and Jobs: MOTIVA’s AI is trained on psychological and motivational models. It doesn’t just match skills to jobs - it cross-references deep preferences (motivations, interests, values) with a database of over 2,870 coded professions. This enables: 

• Fine-tuned profile-job matches
• Personalized suggestions 
• Prioritization based on motivational alignment  

To Contextualize Career Choices with Market Reality: Connects in real time: 

• Compatible jobs
• Current job offers 
• Market trends 
• Required skill levels 

In short, the tool links desire with feasibility - crucial for realistic decisions. 

To Build Tailored Development Paths Once gaps are identified between a person’s profile and job requirements, the tool uses AI to recommend upskilling or reskilling (training, certifications, experiences), considering: 

• Current level 
• Target job value 
• Motivational drivers

AI Serving Humans, Not Replacing Them 

At MOTIVA, AI enhances human intelligence. It helps individuals and coaches gain relevance, personalization, and efficiency - while respecting what we consider central: motivation, self-awareness, and freedom of choice. 

What advice would you give someone to stay motivated and engaged at work?  

Motivation isn’t a permanent or magical state. It fluctuates, requires maintenance, and can be consciously cultivated. Here are 5 key tips for staying engaged long-term: 

Regularly Reconnect with What Deeply Motivates You: Ask yourself: What gives me energy? What tasks stimulate me? When do I feel useful, alive, aligned? Motivation comes from within. The better you know your personal drivers, the easier it is to activate or rediscover them. 

Align Your Tasks with Your Interests and Values: Even in constrained roles, there’s often room to evolve: Ask to contribute to a passion project, suggest new approaches, reorganize priorities around meaningful tasks, alignment between self and environment fuels daily engagement. 

Cultivate a Sense of Progress: Stagnation is a major demotivator. Progress - even small - gives momentum. Learn something new, seek feedback, start a micro-project. Motivation grows when you feel you're advancing. 

Surround Yourself with Positive, Stimulating Relationships: Motivation is also relational. Working with inspiring, kind, or simply motivated people is contagious. Nourish your human environment as much as your tasks. 

Take Control of Your Career Path: Sometimes, demotivation signals the end of a cycle. Don’t ignore or endure it. It may be time to reflect, consult a coach, or reconsider your aspirations. 

Motivation is reborn when you become the active agent of your journey. Being motivated isn’t luck- it’s clarity, meaning, autonomy, and direction. That’s exactly what we aim to restore for everyone through the MOTIVA method.   

According to the CIPD Good Work Index 2024, which surveyed over 5,000 UK workers, 70% of people were satisfied with their job whilst 29% of L&D professionals ranked addressing skills gaps as their top priority. No doubt - these individuals are motivated and find real interest in their work for the future! 

Taking into account a person’s professional motivations and interests allows for better career support by offering opportunities that align with their aspirations and needs. This is especially useful in a shifting labor market where expectations and requirements are constantly evolving. So why is it important to assess them? And is there a way to do it thoroughly?

What Do We Mean by Professional Motivations and Interests, and Why Are They Important?

Professional motivations are the internal drivers that push a person to act and invest in their work. They include the desire for success, the search for recognition, the urge to take on challenges, or the aspiration to contribute to a cause. 

Professional interests refer to the fields or activities that spark a person’s enthusiasm and curiosity. These may relate to specific tasks, work environments, or industry sectors. 

Motivations and interests are essential for generating the energy needed to develop new skills, explore new career paths, and achieve greater professional fulfillment.  They are key elements that influence job satisfaction and performance. Several studies show that aligning professional interests and individual motivational drivers with the role and company contributes to success- both professionally and in terms of learning new skills (Carol Dweck, 2006; Paul Murphy, 2012)

How Can You Establish a Person’s Motivational Profile? 

Everyone has unique professional motivations and interests. Helping individuals become aware of and articulate them is crucial. 

With What Tool? 

The online tool Which Career For Me, powered by Motiva is designed for psychologists and HR professionals working in career support contexts (coaching, skills assessment, career guidance, mobility, outplacement, career change, career management, and psychosocial risk prevention). It helps guide individuals in building career plans that reflect their key interests and motivations. Which Career For Me has been continuously evolved to help each person understand, clearly and structurally, what motivates or demotivates them at work. It helps them discover the jobs, activities, tasks, and professional environments that best suit them, increasing their chances of thriving and succeeding. 

What Is Assessed? 

Two complementary questionnaires, completed in 15 minutes, measure: 

• Professional interests (“what the person is interested in”) across 8 domains and 40 subdomains relevant to current jobs, regardless of current skills- useful for those considering a career change. 
• Concrete professional interests (“what the person feels capable of doing”). 
• Key motivations and the person’s satisfaction level regarding their job, work activities, company, and life values. 

Key Features of This Interactive Tool 

• Positioning the individual using a database of over 2,000 coded jobs across 60 motivational criteria, regularly updated to include emerging roles. 
• Each job is linked to an explanatory sheet and videos. Each job is defined and linked to websites presenting the role. Video descriptions include interviews or testimonials from professionals answering questions like: 
  • “Describe your job in a few words.” 
  • “Tell me about a typical day or week.” 
  • “Why did you choose this profession?” 
  • “What energizes you most during your workday?” 
  • “What skills are useful for this job?” 
  • “How do you see your professional future?” 
• An interactive job database with filter options (by industry, education level, interest domains, motivations) to help individuals choose jobs based on what they want to do, while considering their ideal work environment. 
• Career path simulation through an in-depth interactive study of the match between the person’s profile and target job profiles. 

Real-World Benefits 

Taking into account motivation, motivational satisfaction, and professional interests offers many advantages, as demonstrated by: Laurent Lopez, Head of Strategy and Mobility Programs, and Isabelle Lopez, Project Manager for Strategy and Mobility Programs at AXA France, who use Which Career For Me: Professional to support employee career development. Thierry Dupont, The Certified Coach and Management Consultant Professionalization and Partnership Ecosystems Manager at IAAC who uses Which Career For Me: Student to support talent orientation choices. Stéphanie Beldjilali, Manager of the ATOUT PLUS Groupe who use Which Career For Me: Professional to assess talent skills and support career mobility.

Career guidance is an important subject for more than 9 out of 10 young people but it causes stress for 69% of them - according to the study "Young people and guidance" conducted with Jexplore and Opinion Way  

While young people use a variety of resources to find out about their career path (websites on jobs and training, information brochures, social networks and streaming platforms dedicated to career guidance, internship search platforms, exchange platforms and immersive experiences in companies with virtual reality), 54% nevertheless regret their career choices. How can we provide better support for young people in their career choices?  

Career guidance for young people: a real challenge

Young people are now being asked to take responsibility for planning and controlling their own careers before they even start their studies or work. However, the accelerated digitalization of today's world and its environmental issues place them in front of three challenges: 

• Dealing with the obsolescence of skills: To counter the obsolescence of skills, it is necessary to help young people to value their soft skills, which are more durable over time, rather than their hard skills that can become obsolete after a few years (on average after 2.5 years) or even be replaced by technology, AI (Artificial Intelligence). 
• Preparing for today's uncertain world of work: Helping to guide young people in world of transformation and uncertainty. Some economic experts now see that we have moved from a VUCA framework (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) to BANI (Brittle, Anxiety-provoking, Non-linear and Incomprehensible) world.  
• Finding a job that interests and motivates them: Help young people identify the skills they need to do a job they are passionate about, in which they can fully develop and develop their skills. 

Which Career For Me: Student, an online career planning support method for young people aged 16 to 25 

The Which Career For Me: Student program, designed by Yves Duron and Zwi Segal, perfectly meets these challenges, and is fully in line with the needs of Generation Z who want to take charge of their own career and find meaning in the professional world. To achieve this, it requires a better knowledge of oneself and one's motivations.  

Aimed at guidance counsellors, coaches and career professionals (in school, college or university), Which Career For Me: Student allows them to help young people aged 16 to 25 to learn more about themselves and make the right career choices.

A valuable help in reflection 

Which Career For Me: Student helps young people with three areas of career planning: 

• Discover their professional interests, key motivations and strengths (soft skills). 
• Understand the job market and explore the types of trades and sectors of activity. 
• Validate their ideal job and find the right training.  

5 additional questionnaires measure:  

• Professional interests (among 8 fields and 40 professional sub-fields adapted to current professions) 
• The key drivers of motivation according to the job, work activities, colleagues, the direct manager, the company and in life in general 
• Strengths 
• Mindset 
• Skills of the future.   

They thus provide information on the sources of motivation and demotivation of the young people supported their professional interests, strengths and mindset. The result is a list of jobs and business styles that are in line with the motivational profile of the young person. Professions corresponding to their profile, based on a database of 2,000 professions codified on motivational criteria updated daily and including emerging professions as well, while accompanying videos explain each result. Young people also have access to online and collaborative exercises to help them in their thinking.

A useful programme for youth guidance professionals 

Many professionals who have already used Which Career For Me: Student to help young people build and validate their professional project, testify to its usefulness.  

Nathalie Cavagna - Occupational Psychologist, Consultant at APEC (French Association for the Employment of Executives) and founder of Nathalie Cavagna Conseil highlights an important point by stressing that "most of the young people I see do not know where to go and know more how to express 'what they don't want' than 'what they want'. Often, they only have a vague idea of direction, they may think of a training course rather than of a "profession". Which Career For Me: Student is particularly relevant in addressing this issue due to its approach based on interests, motivations and skills.”  

Thibaut Delacour - Independent Practitioner and Founder of facilitandi adds that "Which Career For Me: Student allows each young person supported to focus on what interests and what motivates them. It helps them to project themselves concretely, this is supported by a database of professions and resources that are directly accessible.”  

Marc Heim - Trainer, ESCCI (Ecole Supérieure de la CCI Portes de Normandie) adds by saying that "Which Career For Me: Student allows us to offer a support framework and offers answers and concrete steps with the help of the summary report, which is well presented and accessible to all."  

Finally, for Thierry Dupont - Certified Coach and Management Consultant, Professionalization and Partnership Ecosystems, IAAC, "Which Career For Me: Student has the advantage of being able to provide à la carte support, both on a collective and individual basis". 

The manufacturing industry is going through a period of transformation marked by a growing skills shortage and an urgent need to attract and retain skilled talent. The sector faces a number of challenges, including high staff turnover, under-representation of women and an ageing workforce. By optimising recruitment and skills development processes, it is possible not only to improve employee retention, but also to encourage innovation.

The insurance sector is facing major HR challenges, compounded by an ageing workforce and a perceived outdated image. With 400,000 professionals nearing retirement, attracting and retaining new talent is essential. Yet only 4% of Millennials are considering a career in the sector, exacerbating the skills shortage. To remain competitive, companies need to modernise their image, promote innovation and offer attractive benefits, while using tools such as psychometric testing to optimise their recruitment process.

The banking and finance sector is facing significant HR challenges due to the rapid evolution of the industry and the increasing adoption of AI. By 2024, 87% of banking executives expect major change, but more than half don't feel prepared for it. Furthermore, 65% of financial services employees believe their business will not survive a decade on its current trajectory. An HR approach focused on skills such as critical thinking and an agile organisational structure are essential to attract, recruit and retain the talent needed to adapt and grow in this changing sector.

In an ever-changing legal environment, companies need to adopt effective strategies to attract and retain the best talent. Recruiting and developing the skills of legal professionals is crucial to long-term competitiveness and success. This guide outlines five essential steps to mastering these processes, enabling legal businesses not only to recruit quality talent, but also to develop and retain them, while optimising their experience as candidates and employees.

The insurance sector holds significant weight in the financial industry. Its revenues are projected to reach $7.5 trillion globally by the end of 2025. However, it faces a major HR challenge linked to the aging workforce and the looming threat of an unprecedented labor shortage. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 50% of the current workforce in the insurance sector will retire in the coming years, leaving over 400,000 vacancies. Therefore, insurance companies must rejuvenate their workforce to remain innovative and competitive in the market. However, the sector does not appeal to the younger generation, who show little interest in pursuing a career in insurance. What strategies can insurance companies employ to attract, recruit, and retain young talent?

Obstacles to the attractiveness of youth in the insurance sector

Image problem

The insurance sector suffers from an unattractive image and reputation among Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) and Generation Z (born from 2000 onwards). It is often perceived as a conventional, conservative, and uninventive professional field.

Unfamiliar occupations

According to a survey conducted by The Institutes, 8 out of 10 Millennials have limited knowledge of career opportunities in the insurance industry. Young people may not have subscribed to insurance policies yet, and they have minimal awareness and understanding of these products.

Insufficiently competitive salaries and benefits

Young people are attracted to competitive salaries and benefits, but the banking and financial sectors as well as Tech & IT appear more attractive.

Lack of flexibility

Young people seek a work-life balance offered by remote and hybrid work arrangements, but insurance companies do not always guarantee this flexibility.

Lack of investment in skills development

Another factor affecting the attractiveness of insurance companies is a gap in the understanding of skills their employees will need in the future. Young people are eager to learn and acquire new skills to remain employable in an ever-changing job market.

Strategies for insurance companies to attract, recruit, and retain young talent

Developing an attractive corporate culture

Valuing corporate culture, mission, purpose, and emphasizing collaboration, career progression, flexibility, and other benefits are important. Additionally, promoting commitment to sustainable development, which young people are highly attuned to, is a plus.

Promoting career options in insurance

The insurance sector offers a wide range of careers (agent, broker, claims adjuster, risk manager, data analyst, cybersecurity expert, etc.). It is important to promote these career options to young people, so they are aware of all the opportunities available.

Emphasizing technology

Insurance companies now offer most of their services through mobile applications (claim submissions, video downloads for claims assessment, inspection planning, claims process tracking, etc.) and utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) to streamline their processes. Promoting the use of technology in the industry can attract tech-savvy young talent.

Recruiting via social networks

Social media is important and relevant for the younger generation. Insurance companies can benefit in promoting their job offers, internships, and compelling content about insurance careers on social networks (LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram).

Taking care of onboarding

Once recruited, it is crucial to support and mentor new hires. Having mentors who will help new recruits network and advise them on progressing in the sector is a real asset.

Investing in training and professional development

It is essential to emphasize job stability in the sector and enable young people to acquire the skills they need to perform and adapt to market changes, offering them career advancement opportunities.

Millennials and Gen Z have begun to dominate the job market. These dynamic new talents seek the energy and flexibility that many industries offer. It is important for insurance companies to consider their expectations and capitalize on this pool of talent to address their deficits in human resources and skills that threaten their business.

In the banking and finance sector, talent management plays a crucial role in maintaining competitiveness and innovation, and responding to shifts in the market. Here are 10 key points to ensure the long-term success of your talent in this field, from assessing skills (such as critical thinking, a crucial soft skill in banking) to well-being at work.

Possessing critical thinking skills is sought after and highly valued in the banking sector to adapt to changes, make decisions, address issues, and propose solutions.

Banking: A Sector Undergoing Rapid Transformation

In the banking sector, customer expectations are evolving rapidly: They demand user-friendly and intuitive interfaces for their online and mobile banking transactions, as well as a smooth and transparent experience across all communication channels with their bank. They are very open to adopting new technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and chatbots to facilitate their operations. They also expect efficient and responsive financial services tailored to their needs and preferences. Finally, they attach great importance to the protection and confidentiality of their personal data against fraud and cyber-attacks.

To meet these requirements, employees in the banking sector must master technical skills related to online banking operations, data management, cybersecurity, and the use of new technologies. Additionally, they increasingly require behavioral skills in:

• Communication to effectively interact with clients and respond to their needs clearly and concisely in person, by phone, email, or chat. 
• Negotiation to reach agreements, resolve conflicts, and achieve favorable conditions for both the bank and clients.
• Critical thinking to analyze complex situations, identify problems, and find solutions.
• Attention to detail as precision and thoroughness are essential for managing financial transactions and ensuring compliance with regulations.
• Adaptability and time management to quickly adapt to new technologies, processes, products, and services, and juggle multiple tasks while meeting deadlines. 

The banking sector employs many people but experiences high attrition and turnover rates. To remain competitive in a market marked by uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions, increased technological disruption, fierce competition between traditional banks and new, more innovative and agile players, banks must compete to attract and retain top talent. They must evolve their talent acquisition processes to improve efficiency and speed, and focus on assessing these skills, particularly critical thinking.

Critical Thinking: A Highly Coveted Power Skill in the Banking Sector 

According to a global study by PwC, while digital skills are considered important by 70%, 77% recognize that critical thinking skills, such as emotional intelligence and judgment, are crucial in banking professions. Isabelle Jenkins, Head of Financial Services at PwC UK, adds: "Being adaptable, collaborative, and demonstrating critical thinking skills is important. If we truly want to leverage technological advances, we will need the right people with the appropriate skills so that we can truly solve problems, drive productivity, and create growth. Investment in technology is essential to achieve all these goals. But it must be guided by human ingenuity, expertise, and understanding."

Carole Fortier Bidan, Senior Product Developer at Pearson TalentLens, and Christelle Cadoret, Psychologist and HR consultant, authors of the book "Embracing Change and Making Informed Decisions - Critical Thinking & Adaptability" (Pearson, Human Skills collection), define critical thinking as a mindset aimed at logically analyzing situations for a specific purpose, such as problem-solving, explaining a viewpoint, interpreting, or justifying a decision. It involves searching for facts, evidence, understanding and analyzing different perspectives, and personal qualities such as listening, humility, curiosity, open-mindedness, and taking a step back. It requires self-awareness regarding one's own biases, beliefs, stereotypes, and cognitive biases to limit their impact on decision-making and positioning. It is practiced through constructive effort that involves and promotes a collaborative spirit in the service of collective intelligence.

It is qualified as a power skill because reasoning and decision-making are the least automated tasks in the workplace. 

Providing the Means to Assess Critical Thinking 

Laure Bogeat, current Director of HR Development and former Head of Recruitment, Career, and Employment Services at BPCE Infogérance et Technologies, the IT GIE of the BPCE group, the second largest French banking group, testifies to the importance of critical thinking in the banking sector: "Our environment is complex, systemic, and evolving rapidly. In the context of recruitment challenges, it is a tight market at the heart of new technologies and the digital transformation of the group, we wanted in our recruitment processes to ensure a level of analysis, an understanding of our challenges, and intellectual flexibility allowing our new recruits to thrive in our structure. The Watson-Glaser™ III Critical Thinking Assessment naturally emerged. It informs us of the intellectual approach of the candidate to solve a problem and make a decision, but also on the understanding of their environment, their interpretation of factual data, and synthesis capacity, all relevant elements in our selection criteria."

Critical thinking skills are crucial within the banking sector and the ability of HR professionals to assess this ability can make a difference to the long-term talent acquisition process. Helping to identify and develop new candidates into roles and spot potential high-performers for training and leadership roles in the future.

Overall, exercising critical thinking ability has a crucial role in the banking sector for making informed decisions, identifying and evaluating potential risks in financial operations, proposing creative and innovative solutions to clients, in compliance with established regulations and standards, and with a focus on confidentiality and data protection. It is an essential skill to assess and develop in candidates and existing employees.

According to the authors of the Which Career For Me program, too many companies rely on skills as the only basis for internal mobility. Between job descriptions and skills repositories, the concept of motivation is still not included, yet it is central.

Competences fade, motivations last

In a job description, we generally find professional activities and technical skills, recently completed with some soft skills and personality elements. When it comes to internal mobility, the standard tool remains the intranet job board, which consists of posting job descriptions, their geographical characteristics, and the associated salary.

However, skills are rapidly becoming obsolete in a world of constant change. The OECD has confirmed this: their lifespan used to be estimated at 20 years in the 1960s-1970s and will not exceed an average of one year in 2025. In a context of mobility, it is not necessarily those who have the skills for a job who are most motivated to get it. Today, employee motivation is key. The latest generations prioritize purpose in their jobs. People leave a company when motivation fades and they no longer relate to it.

Becoming an active member of your own mobility

Each person has his or her own motivating factors. This is why employees need to have tools that empower them to take ownership of their careers. Questioning themselves about their own professional interests or even their frustrations helps to regain this power. Many people undergo mobility as a result of reorganizations, for example.

Nevertheless, even in this context, it is possible to involve employees by giving them the opportunity to identify positions that interest them. It is important to trust them. 

Acquiring new skills using motivation

Competence, which is transient, is ultimately not a barrier to mobility. Science has proven that brain plasticity allows for the development of skills in any field. Therefore, there is no such thing as being "good at math" and "bad at French". In reality, skill acquisition is primarily a matter of motivation. A person motivated by research and inquiry will likely have difficulty in building business skills.

Psychologist Carol Dweck from Stanford University coined the concept of growth mindset. It reflects the fact that as long as a person believes that they can develop skills in a field, they will do so successfully. All it takes is the right training. Its opposite, the fixed mindset, could be summed up by the sentence, "I was never good at this, I will never get there." In reality, in a mobility context, technical skills are secondary. It is motivation that is the driving force behind success.

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Employability is a central issue in the workforce market. With soft skills a central component of this concept, the question of how to reliably measure these skills arises. Psychometric tools provide an appropriate method of reporting a skills profile, Guillaume Demery, Doctor of Psychology and Designer and Developer of Psychometric Tools at Pearson TalentLens, sheds some light on the subject.

Employability: an HR issue placing the individual at the heart of the labour market

A concept studied for several decades; employability has been the subject of several definitions. Thus, for Hillage and Pollard (1998): “In simple terms, employability consists of being able to obtain and keep a job. More generally, employability is the ability to move independently in the labour market to realise one's potential through sustainable employment”. This very general definition makes it possible to understand the importance of the concept as a possibility of adapting to a constantly changing labour market.

However, it is interesting to know and understand the existing levers that allow access to this employability. A definition from Hinchcliffe (2001) states: “Employability is defined as having a set of skills, knowledge, and personal attributes that make a person more likely to be secure and successful in their chosen occupation”. Thanks to this definition, we understand that the individual is at the heart of employability, whether through his knowledge, the skills he has acquired and certain attributes that are specific to him, such as motivation or interests (Fenouillet, 2016).

Soft skills: essential skills to remain employable

It is possible to model the factors influencing employability. Thus, Pool and Sewell (2007) consider that experience, levels of knowledge, soft skills, emotional intelligence as well as development and training throughout the career are key factors, working together to improve employability.

As a result, it is an important issue both for new graduates entering the job market and for professionals in transition and looking either for retraining or career development within their company. (Harvey, 2001; Guilbert et al., 2016). While experience and training within a company are factors that favour professionals over young graduates, soft skills are essential and useful skills upon graduation (Andrew & Higson, 2008).

The essential soft skills to boost your employability

Behavioural skills can be generalised to most trades offered on the labour market and are essential for good employability. Beyond hard skills, namely business skills, we understand that employability is essentially based on the ability of individuals to be able to integrate and adapt to a rapidly changing labour market.

A non-exhaustive list of expected soft skills:

• Professionalism
• Reliability
• Ability to cope with uncertainty
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to plan and think strategically
• Ability to communicate and interact with others, either in a team or through networking
• Skills in written and oral communication
• Skills in information and communication technologies
• Creativity and self-confidence
• Good self-management and time management skills
• A willingness to learn and take responsibility (Elias & Purcell, 2004).

Motivation: another factor to consider

Motivation referred to as “the reasons underlying behavior” (Guay et al., 2010, p. 712), and the “the attribute that moves us to do or not to do something” (Gredler, Broussard and Garrison., 2004, p. 106) is a non-negligible factor of employability, allowing, beyond the capacities of the individual, to understand the probability that he adheres and puts in place the appropriate behaviours to remain effective in his profession. It is therefore advisable to know the motivations and interests (Schiefele, 1991).

How to measure soft skills in order to support employability for individuals and companies?

Knowing the importance of employability in the labour market, it is necessary that reliable measures are put in place to help individuals, whether they are new graduates seeking to enter the labour market, professionals looking for retraining or development within their organisations, or companies looking for the best employability profiles in order to have long-term prospects with new recruits.

The advantage of psychometric tests

The evaluation of soft skills requires statistically valid and reliable tools, capable of measuring concepts that are sometimes difficult to observe (for example, the individual's ability to work under pressure). Psychometrics, which is concerned with the theoretical and practical aspects of psychological measurement (Chadha, 2009), is at this stage the most advanced discipline in the creation of such measures.

Several types of tools exist to measure these skills. For example, assessment tests are specifically constructed to measure work styles, those aspects of personality most important to success. Work styles can be thought of as an individual's typical patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaviour that can positively influence success in the world of work, and therefore employability, according to database studies. These working styles are organised around four major themes:

• The relationship to people, such as cooperation or leadership
• Managing emotions, such as stress tolerance or self-control
• Approach to work, such as initiative or reliability
• Thinking style, such as innovative or analytical thinking.

Aptitude tests for a good measure of adaptability

Aptitude tests also make it possible to understand the adaptability of the individual in the world of work, to measure essential skills such as the ability to solve problems, verbal comprehension, the ability to correctly interpret data in order to place entrepreneurial strategies, or the ability to evaluate arguments and issue unbiased conclusions.

These psychometric tests based either on the classical test theory or, thanks to the digital evolution of these solutions, on the item response theory based on a probabilistic reasoning of the calculation of the level of aptitude (Edelen & Reeve, 2007), make it possible to have statistically valid and reliable measurements of these soft skills, or even of the motivations and interests of the individual.

Thanks to these methods, it is possible to establish an employability profile of the individual, so that they understand their levers on the labour market while recognising the skills that they can improve, guaranteeing the establishment of a training circuit adapted to the needs of the user.