Moi Cok Wah, a talent management leader in South East Asian and Asian countries, is in Mauritius

Moi Cok Wah, a talent management leader in South East Asian and Asian countries, is currently in Mauritius. He works for Team Synthesis, a consultancy firm with a presence in Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritius. His personal motto is to ‘help people while making a difference’. The Independent interviewed him to know more. What is talent management? Talent management is about developing future leaders. It is important that people are given the best development opportunities. It provides understanding of what the organisation or company is all about and wants to do in the next 3 to 5 years. It is important that companies seriously review where they want to be in the future. Tell us about the ways through which talent management is implemented. It is all about understanding change, abilities and key factors. Broadly speaking, the six steps identified to teach talent management are positioning, capabilities, competencies, assessment, development and governance. This is your second visit. What are the changes you have observed? I was really impressed with the road and infrastructure which is improving. This represents the hardware that one can see. However, what about the software – the leadership and management? Talent management teaches us how to bring leadership to the next level. What is your take on disaster management? Disaster management is not my area of specialisation. But it is obviously important. A country can only prepare so much. However, in the event of a crisis, each person’s priorities, or who should delegate responsibilities can be sorted out only by talent management. You have undertaken research on the ‘Psychology of Innovation’. Tell us more about this. It encompasses knowledge and innovation, not just invention. Basically the idea is that we don’t have to invent different things. We have to look at them differently. The way companies define the jobs of the people affects how innovative the people can be. The way we define people is important. What do you think is Mauritius’s forte and weaknesses when it comes to talent management? The country is very fortunate to have a highly intelligent workforce. They are multilingual and fluent in French and English. As for the drawbacks, every country has some. Yours perhaps is that living on such a beautiful island, make you very relaxed. What keeps yougrounded? That would have to be my background. I come from a family that is not rich. I think it is there that I learnt that if you don’t keep moving you get left behind.