Group HR Head of Brandix wins international award

Ishan Dantanarayana, Chief People Officer (CPO) at Sri Lanka’s top apparel export group Brandix, has won international recognition for noteworthy contributions to his organisation, country and the world through innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dantanarayana was presented the Achievers and Leaders Award for Excellence in Talent Management by A. D. S. Gunawardena, Deputy Minister of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs at the first Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, Singapore (SIAS) Partnership Summit in Colombo on 5 December.

The awards conferred by the Global Board of the SIAS Partnership Summit were presented in five categories, for excellence in talent management, brand building, institution building, creativity and leadership.

The SIAS Summit brought together more than 100 respected CEOs, Managing Directors, Heads of Human Resources, professionals, decision makers and entrepreneurs to share knowledge and explore business opportunities under the overall theme ‘Building the Future - Partnerships and Progress through Development.’

In a further affirmation of his standing as an HR leader in the region, Dantanarayana was invited to be one of the 18 top leaders to address the SIAS Summit.

Other panellists at the Summit’s HR Forum included eminent Human Resources heads of leading multibillion dollar Indian corporate entities of the calibre of Mahindra and Mahindra and the Reliance Group.

Commenting on the recognition accorded to the Group’s CPO, Brandix CEO Ashroff Omar said: “Identifying, harnessing, motivating and managing talent is mission-critical for our business. As an organisation that continuously invests and takes pride in the professional development of its associates we are very pleased with Ishan’s achievement. It is also a valuable endorsement of the exemplary quality of HR practices within the Brandix Group.”

He said the award also illustrates that the Group’s people emulate the Brandix philosophy of “pushing the boundaries” in their quest for excellence. A professional with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of Human Resources and business partnering, Dantanarayana has previously served as the Senior Director HR/Global Head Training and Development and the Global HR Processing Centre of Virtusa Corporation and as Country HR Manager and Senior Regional Trainer of DHL Keells (Pvt.) Ltd. He has conducted training programmes in over 40 countries.

He holds an MBA from Edith Cowan University of Australia, a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing and MCIM status of CIM (UK) and a postgraduate HR qualification from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (SL).

The SIAS Partnership Summit, established to promote investments and knowledge sharing, is held in collaboration with many reputed global institutions including the World HRD Congress, OLAK Group, an International Education hub; Intercontinental Institute of Human Resource Management (IIHRM); and the Centre for Change Management, USA. A group that provides direct employment to approximately 35,000 associates, Brandix pioneered the concept of total solutions in the Sri Lankan apparel industry and has been recognised as the country’s largest apparel exporter by the Export Development Board. Comprising of over 32 fully-integrated manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka and overseas, the Brandix Group is a preferred solutions provider to some of the world’s leading apparel brands, including Victoria’s Secret, PINK, Gap, Banana Republic, Marks & Spencer, Lands’ End, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hanes and Express.