IPM SL pays tribute to OPA President and felicitates heads of constituent bodies

IPM Sri Lanka – the nation’s leader in human resource management – paid tribute to their former President Lalith Wijetunge who was recently inducted as the President of the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA). 

From left: Dhammika Fernando, Ajith Bopitiya, Rohitha Amarapala, OPA President Lalith Wijetunga, C. Hewapattini, Ken Vijaykumar and Chris Obeysekere at the presentation of the memento  

The event was held at the “Members’ Lounge”, IPM Head Office in the form of an evening networking session where IPM hosted OPA President Lalith Wijetunge, Management Committee Members of OPA, and at the same time felicitated the new heads of all the OPA member organisations in the presence of IPM Past Presidents, Council Members, Co-chairmen of the External Affairs Standing Committee and the Chief Operations Officer of IPM. The event was organised by the External Affairs Standing Committee of IPM Sri Lanka Co-Chaired by IPM Immediate Past President Rohitha Amarapala and Council Member Dhammika Fernando.

“We are honoured to salute Lalith Wijetunge, a truly inspirational people leader who was inducted as the President of the OPA recently. We are inspired by the way he conducted the affairs of IPM while guiding us during his tenure of three years as President of IPM Sri Lanka and thereafter as well. Another great feat is that this is the first time in history that a former President of IPM was elected to the helm of the OPA. It is indeed a deep honour and privilege for us to have such a remarkable person leading the OPA,” said IPM Sri Lanka President Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri, in his pre-recorded message.   

On behalf of IPM President and IPM Council, Immediate Past President Rohitha Amarapala presented a memento to OPA President Lalith Wijetunga in honor of his immeasurable services to the world of HR in the presence of Dhammika Fernando, Hony. Secretary IPM Ken Vijaykumar, Hony. Treasurer Ajith Bopitiya, Past President Chris Obeyesekere and Council Member C. Hewapattini.   

In his welcome address Dammika Fernando while paying tribute to the newly elected President of the OPA stressed upon the need to take advantage of the excellent synergistic relationship that exists between the OPA which is an influential professional body with 48 professional member associations representing 36 professions with over 60,000 professional members and IPM Sri Lanka, which is the leading professional body for human resource management. 

This special relationship can be utilised in helping the country uplift its human resource capabilities and potential so that Sri Lanka as a country can drive growth to monumental levels and compete with our neighbours for foreign direct investment and in driving exports. A highly resilient, growth oriented human resource management strategy giving due consideration to industry requirements would help to overcome many of its challenges in the medium to long term, and IPM is well positioned to assist its fellow member associations in the OPA in many ways.  

IPM’s produces over 700 market ready well rounded HR professionals on a yearly basis who pass out from the IPM Business School. The fully fledged IPM Business School having considered the future needs in the HR sector, will be offering recognised degrees in human resource management in the near future. IPM also has a consultancy arm which offers consultancy services through a selected panel of experienced, multi-faceted highly qualified human resource professionals who are capable of advising companies and industries on human resource strategy. 

In order to provide a significant amount of value addition to the industry from an HR perspective, IPM also set up a strong research arm under the guidance of eminent HR practitioners and academics. The objective of the IPM research arm is to encourage research into many new and existing HR policies and practices, advice companies and policy makers of the merits and demerits of any existing or proposed HR related activity. IPM also has 12 standing committees which offer services to different areas of business while the well stocked HR library offers many benefits to its different stakeholders. 

IPM conducts career guidance programmes, workshops, evening guest lectures, networking events etc in order to raise awareness of while popularising human resource management and its importance to business and industry. IPM Sri Lanka has a faculty of over 200, a permanent workforce exceeding 65 and has established 5 branch offices and regional centres for the convenience of its members and students.

Dhammika Fernando also requested solidarity of all brother associations under the OPA for the upcoming “HR World Congress-Colombo 2020” hosted by IPM Sri Lanka on behalf of the World Federation of People Management Association (WFPMA).  

The OPA is the apex body of 48 member associations with a membership of over 60,000 professionals in Sri Lanka representing professions such as Medicine, Engineering, Accountancy, Architecture, Law, Management, Banking, Town Planning Computer Science, Human Resource Management, etc.  OPA was founded in 1975 under the aegis of the Commonwealth Foundation. The OPA is a strong force in society and its opinions are sought by policy makers in the Government as well as outside. 

IPM was founded in 1959 and was subsequently incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1976. IPM is affiliated to the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resources Management and also to the World Federation of People Management Association. IPM, being a professional institute is also a constituent member of the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) Sri Lanka. Currently, IPM comprises of over 1200 Professional Members who serve in both public and private organisations.