Hayleys Plantations’HRM strategy wins top accolades at Global HR Excellence Awards 2017

Kelani Vally Plantations’ Senior Manager – HR & Corporate Sustainability  Anuruddha Thiththagalla Gamage accepting the Award for Leading HR Practices in Quality Work-Life Global on behalf of Hayleys Plantations at the Global HRM Excellence Awards 2017

Setting new international benchmarks in sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM), Hayleys Plantations emerged as winners in two categories – at both the individual and organisational level – aheadof over 700 leading corporates from 133 countries at the recently-concluded Global HR Excellence Awards 2017.

Taking place at the culmination of this year’s World HRD Congress – theprofession’s most prestigious calendar event – theaward ceremony took place at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai, India.

After several rounds of strict evaluation by a panel comprised of luminaries in the field of human resources, Hayleys was selected as winners of the Award for Leading HR Practices in Quality Work-Life, in recognition of its breakthrough efforts to successfully extend comprehensive human resource management programs to its workforce – spanning healthcare, education, upgrading of living standards and environment, community capacity building and youth empowerment. 

In addition to its organisational accolade, Kelani Valley Plantations Senior Manager – HR & Corporate SustainabilityAnuruddha Thiththagalla Gamage won the ‘100 Most Influential Global HR Professional Award’.

“Innovation and excellence are the driving force behind the continued success of the Hayleys Plantations. In that regard, the unprecedented achievements of our team at the Global HRM Excellence Awards is emblematic of the Hayleys Plantations’ holistic commitment to nurturing a dynamic, yet sustainable performance driven culture. Despite the extreme challenges faced by our tea and rubber sectors, Hayleys Plantations has consistently worked towards the achievement of its strategic objectives, through focused upgrades to infrastructure and continuous upskilling of our most valuable resource, our people. 

“In addition to our 19,000 employees, we also work to extend benefits to the 110,000 strong plantation community. This has been a winning strategy for Hayleys Plantations, as evidenced by the continuing recognition for our HRD initiatives and moving forward we will continue to champion empowerment-based strategies on local, regional and international platforms,” Hayleys Plantation SectorHead and Kelani Valley Plantations PLC and Talawakelle Tea Estates PLCManaging DirectorRoshanRajadurai said. 

Hayleys Plantations’ accolades at the Global HRM Excellence Awards 2017 represent the latest in a long series of awards for both Kelani Valley Plantations PLC and Talawakelle Tea Estates PLC sharing Gold and Silver Awards at the National Business Excellence Awards, National HR Excellence Award, Asia-Pacific HR Award, JASTECA CSR Award, Green Awards, Occupational Health & Safety, National Social Dialogue & Workplace Corporation Awards. Additionally, TTEL was declared winner and KVPL runners-up, for both the Best Presented Annual Report Award conducted by CA Sri Lanka, and at the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) Best Presented Annual Report Awards.

Since its entry into the plantation sector following the privatisation of State-owned estates in 1992 up to the present day, Hayleys Plantations sector’s extensive human development programs have resulted in the development and continues improvement in human care, living standards, health and nutrition, employee engagement and empowerment. These programs have been designed with a central focus on empowerment of both employees and the communities they live in. 

TTEL was able to maintain the number one tea ranking among all Regional Plantations Companies and KVPL also maintained their position been number one in rubber ranking with the highest recorded yield of 1008 Kg/ha.

Hayleys Plantations Sector comprises Kelani Valley Plantations (KVPL) and Talawakelle Tea Estates (TTEL). Both companies have consistently been ranked number one among Sri Lanka’s regional plantation companies in rubber and tea respectively. The sector manages 44 tea and rubber estates, with KVPL holding the record for the country’s highest-ever yield of 1,008 kg per hectare. In total, Hayleys Plantations manages over 19,500 hectares of land and accounts for 4.5% and 2.5% of Sri Lanka’s tea and rubber production respectively.