The ability to move forward and transform alongside the world around them is a crucial attribute in any new hire for business software and solutions firm SAP, the company’s executive board member in charge of global HR tells Recruiter.

Luisa Deplazes Delgado (right) describes the necessary aptitudes, saying: “There are generic profile elements that we know will allow talents [employees] to lead into the future.

“It isn’t about crystal balls, but about characteristics; the mindset; a way of thinking; a way of approaching life; of a glass half full; of thinking that an issue is an opportunity.”

She goes on to say that while “learning to code is something you can learn” and other technical skills can be taught, that inherent personality trait cannot be.

This is not to deny the importance of the technical skills, indeed she outlines that when the forward-looking recruits bring this attitude to the SAP workplace, “it is [i.e. becomes] the curiosity to invent the new way that you code”.

Of the hard skills that will be important to SAP in 2013, UK & Ireland HR director Laura Burton lists big data, cloud and mobile as three of the most significant.

And Burton continues Delgado’s point, telling Recruiter: “We don’t just focus on people that have IT skills, we look for people with industry knowledge who can look at the products’ value life cycle, how it’s going to change things for your business.”