Gyan Nagpal interviewed by Brian Camoens at IQPC

1. Find out why experience is a blunt weapon
without purpose
Bryan Camoens speaks to Gyan Nagpal, Principle & CEO of PeopleLENS Global
Associates, on why it is important to simplify the recruitment process. He also gives his
take on how talent management will evolve over the next few years.
Bryan Camoens: What is the strangest place that you have recruited someone?
Gyan Nagpal: 30,000 feet above the Bay of Bengal, on a flight from Singapore to
Mumbai.
Bryan Camoens: In you opinion what is your top tip for retaining high performers?
Gyan Nagpal: Always engage their ideas. The best talent today seek jobs with two
distinct elements –An organisation which provides a platform for top performers to build
a legacy, and a manager who is willing to challenge the status quo and facilitate a good
idea to succeed.
Bryan Camoens: What is the most memorable question a candidate has ever asked
you in an interview?
Gyan Nagpal: There have been a few, but the experience that still makes me chuckle is
an internal candidate who truthfully confessed that she had no interest in the role, but had
applied anyway to make her current manager nervous.
Bryan Camoens: Could you please elaborate on how you continually go about
developing creative talent acquisition strategies in an increasingly competitive
environment?
Gyan Nagpal: I don’t think the only way to win is to change the game; we need to
improve our own ability to master circumstances. In particular, simplifying the
recruitment process and broadening sourcing perspectives; for in an increasingly
asynchronous world, talent can come from anywhere. There are three basic principles I
follow - 1.Hire for attitude and train for skill, 2. Diverse teams are cooler and much more
fun, 3. Experience is a blunt weapon without purpose – I’d trade a 20 page CV any day,
for a little fire in the belly.
Bryan Camoens: In your opinion and given the projected economic growth in Asia
over the next few years, how will talent management in Asia evolve over the next
few years?
Gyan Nagpal: Things will get tougher, due to three concurrent pressures. Firstly, every
global company with a desire for double digit shareholder return is eyeing growth in Asia.
The region’s current consumption and investment economics make it too lucrative to sit-

2. out. Secondly, though lots of raw talent exists, the catalyst which helps smelt desire into
capability is high quality education, which is in short supply. China needs over 600,000
managers, yet it has barely 236 Management colleges graduating 20,000 MBAs a year.
The annual demand for MBAs outstrips supply by a factor of 10, at least. Education is
impossible to fix in the short term – even if China builds a thousand B-Schools, where
would it find high quality professors? Last, but probably most important is that Asia as an
economic region is unlike its sister geographies - North America and Europe, where
mobility of management talent is much easier. In this region, culture, language and
politics make mobility much more complex and expensive.
As a result, I see three patterns forming. More migration of talent from the West to East,
more investments being set aside for in-company management development and most
importantly, talent management practices maturing from something HR needs to drive to
a core line management expectation.
Gyan Nagpal will be speaking at the 4th Annual Talent Management Asia Summit. For
the complete list of speakers and topics that will be discussed at the summit visit
www.talentmanagementasia.com or drop an email to enquiry@iqpc.com.sg