Sampath Bank’s HR Head Lalith Weragoda receives IPM Sri Lanka HR Leaders’ Award

Sampath Bank PLC Head of Human Resources Lalith Weragoda was awarded the ‘IPM Sri Lanka HR Leaders’ Award’ for the ‘Industrial/Employee Relations’ category at the National HR Excellence Awards 2017 held recently. Weragoda received this award in recognition of his contribution in introducing an innovative scheme to enhance team performance.

“At Sampath Bank, we view our team of about 4,000 Sampath bankers as our greatest asset. Their commitment to our core principles and relentless efforts to bring them to life while meeting and exceeding customer expectations have enabled us to continue to innovate and grow exponentially over the past 30 years. And I am delighted to see one of senior leaders being recognised at this prestigious forum for his innovation in managing their performance,” said Sampath Bank PLC Managing Director Nanda Fernando.

Yet another testament to Sampath Bank’s spirit of innovation, this award comes on the heels of the Bank being recognised as Sri Lanka’s ‘Most Innovative Bank’ at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2017.

“I’m honoured to receive this award from the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) Sri Lanka for the innovative team based performance incentive scheme developed and implemented at Sampath Bank. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support and guidance of our leadership team and the commitment and persistence of all members of the Sampath family,” said Sampath Bank PLC Head of Human Resources Lalith Weragoda.

Elaborating on the award winning performance incentive system, Weragoda noted, “In the past, we had a standardised incentive system at Sampath Bank wherein everyone was rewarded equally. While we have always sought to move to a performance based system, we didn’t want to do so in a hasty, inconsiderate manner. Going beyond traditional performance distribution curves, we wanted to create a system that would allow us to capture a higher number of outstanding performers and incentivise them to continuously strive to perform better. In line with this, we developed and implemented a unique scheme under the theme of ‘One for all. All for one.’ in 2016 to reward outstanding performers without disturbing the team culture. And I am delighted to note that the system has delivered outstanding results in its first year itself. The bank’s after tax profits grew by 48.8% year on year with profits per employee growing by 58%. 

The National HR Excellence Awards 2017, a key element of the two-day IPM National Human Resources Conference 2017, recognised exemplary HR professionals who have demonstrated best practices in Human Resource Management. Organised by the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) Sri Lanka, the National HR Conference 2017 is considered as the largest HR conference in South Asia and was held this year under the theme, ‘Emerging HR Leaders – High Tech and High Touch’. The event featured an eminent panel of international and local speakers who shed light on innovative, people-centric concepts, tools and practices that are revolutionising the HR landscape.