SLASSCOM to host People Summit 2021 as Global Virtual Conference next week

SLASSCOM HR Forum Lead Sampath Jayasundara

SLASSCOM Director, HR Forum Board RepresentativeShehani Seneviratne

Conference Chair Nuwan Dishan

Resilience has been mutually agreed upon by individuals, teams and organisations as perhaps the more critical success factor in the new norm. With the objective of building strength, agility and a sense

of readiness to face the unprecedented challenges of today, the HR forum of Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) is organising its flagship annual event People Summit 2021 under the theme ‘Building Resilience in your workforce in the new norm.’

“The pandemic has left behind a trail of change – lockdowns, working from home and changing careers and building resilience is crucial to thrive in the new norm where uncertainty is the only constant,” says SLASSCOM Chairman Channa Manoharan. “SLASSCOM is proud to be a conversation starter in this arena and this year’s people summit will help individuals, teams and organisations build resilience in the face of adversity,” he added. 

With working from home and the challenges that come with it set to be the norm for the foreseeable future, achieving work success and work-life balance is key. “Even if people are starting to achieve success work-wise, many struggle with psychological wellness, balancing work and family and managing stress,” highlighted SLASSCOM HR Forum Lead and hSenid Business Solutions CEO/Director Sampath Jayasundara. “And we want to touch on all these aspects to build essential soft skills in people.”

“This year’s summit goes beyond the IT sector and even beyond organisations,” commented SLASSCOM Director, HR Forum Board Representative and 99x COO Shehani Seneviratne. “We are reaching out to anyone working in the new norm who is undergoing difficulties and challenges, be it a corporate employee, gig worker or entrepreneur, to offer insights, tools and tips to build resilience.”

World Economic Forum’s latest ‘Future of Jobs 2025’ report highlights that newly emerging skills in the self-management area during 2020/21 are resilience, active learning, stress tolerance and flexibility. In this context, the people summit 2021 covers a critical theme which would help participants to kick start 2021 with great tips and insights to grow beyond pandemic.  

Building on Charles Darwin’s famous words – “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change” – the summit is ideal for anyone who wants to become more resilient in the workplace or personal life.

Masters Corporate Education Conference Chair and Lead Nuwan Dishan notes: “We have identified three angles of resilience building which is critical for any organisation to succeed beyond pandemic – individual, team and organisation and the summit will cover elements such as psychological well-being, mental endurance, culture alignment, physical fitness, team dynamics and stress management among many other topics.”

The summit has a line-up of 20 reputed international speakers set to share global insights, case studies and tips, in the likes of Havana Abid – Chief Transformation and Risk Officer at Pearson, Antonia Hock – Global Head The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, Ryan Wolf –Physical Well-being Lead at Gallup and Andrew Tarvin – World’s First Humour Engineer Dr. Sven Hansen, Founder of Resilience Insititute, Dr. Taryn Marie Stejskal, a leading authority on Resilience Leadership, Lasse Wrennmark - 

Partner Oxford Leadership and Caterina Kostula – Founder, Leaderpath Executive Coach at INSEAD to name some. An esteemed local panel will also share insights from the Sri Lankan context.

“This summit has always upheld knowledge enhancement and insightful conversations and we pride ourselves in enriching participants with a toolkit of tangible inputs to take back and practice,” shares Nuwan. 

Considered to be the biggest event of the HR forum, if not of SLASSCOM, the annual People Summit will take place virtually this year, from 19-21 January from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and will be attended by over 500 participants locally and globally. This year’s event will cover 600+ minutes of content, where participants from anywhere both locally and globally can join since it’s a fully virtual event. 

SLASSCOM is joined by Corporate Sponsor Dialog Enterprise, Main Sponsor Pearson, Silver Sponsors Exetel and 99x, Bronze Sponsor hSenid Biz, Education Partner Informatics Institute of Technology, Media Partner Daily FT and Event Partners AT Link and ACCA in the organising of the summit. 

Further information can be obtained by logging on to 

https://slasscom.glueup.com/event/people-summit-2021-building-resilience-in-your-workforce-in-the-new-norm-30425/.