HR Business Partner and Total Rewards workshops add another leaf in HR professional development chap

Association of Human Resource Professionals (AHRP), Sri Lanka, in collaboration with SHRM India, launched the second episode of its HR capability development program with workshops on HR Business Partner (HRBP) and Total Rewards during the week of 28 August. 

These workshops were intended for HR professionals to advance their technical skills and ability to apply them to enable business outcomes. Participation of 20+ attendees in each of the program from diverse industries and experiences enthused the sessions with rich discussions and thoughts. 

The session on HRBP was conducted on 28-29 August at Taj Samudra, Colombo by Pradeep Mukherjee who brought with him 31 years of experience from the field. Pradeep’s real-life examples from his assignment as the CEO of Mercer Consulting, India and HR head in large MNCs brought to life a key message. The message was not novel but needed to be emphasised enough that HR has to stop seeing itself as a support function to be perceived as business enabler andbe able to create an impact.

The workshop was kick-started by Oshana Dias, EXCO Member AHRP who spoke about theneed for human resource professionals to be able to think and speak business. She further shared the context of the professional development initiatives facilitated by HRP in partnership with SHRM India as an effort towards the transformation of the local HR management landscape on par with international standards.

The session then dived into the concepts facilitated through relevant and engaging simulations like case studies, role plays etc. providing experiential learning to the participants. Discussions and sharing of the real life cases were encouraged throughout the workshop. The session was concluded with giving away of participation certificates which were cosigned by Pradeepa Kekulawala, President, AHRP and Achal Khanna, CEO, SHRM India.

The next workshop – Total Rewards – was held from 31 August to 1 September and also facilitated by Pradeep Mukherjee. It was designed to enable following key outcomes:

nBuild capability of the HR professionals to understand the way to align the reward strategy with business strategy and reflect on the organisation’s high performance strategy. 

nAppreciate the linkages with other systems to articulate a rewards strategy which is aligned with business objectives 

nArticulate the organisation’s rewards strategy for managers and employees

nDevelop capability to establish and evaluate internal equity in the organisation

With 21 participants having none to moderate exposure to rewards, the workshop made an interesting journey for everyone including the facilitator. Kick-started by Chandana Wijayanama, Secretary, AHRP; the workshop addressed basic concepts to more advanced ones. With the help of actual data and cases; every concept was explained. 

Written feedback received from the participants indicated the value created by the program. Quoting one of the qualitative comments from the feedback of the workshop: “This is a very good program. It gives a solid foundation with regard to total rewards concept and take the participant through several practical exercises.”

This session also ended with a thank you note and participationcertificate award ceremony by Pradeep Mukherjee. With next workshops scheduled for the end of this month, a lot of traction has been created amongst HR professionals in Sri Lanka to upskill and self-development.