IPM National HR Conference 2017 takes HR to higher level

IPM Sri Lanka – the nation’s leader in Human Resources Management – inaugurated its flagship event ‘The IPM National Human Resources Conference 2017’ (NHRC) on Tuesday 20 June at the BMICH in Colombo. IPM’s NHRC is the largest HR conference in South Asia and is a much looked forward to event by the HR fraternity to hear, from experts, about the innovative, people-centric concepts, tools and practices that are revolutionising the HR landscape. This year’s conference theme is ‘Emerging HR Leaders: High Tech & High Touch’. 

Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Patali Champika Ranawaka graced the occasion as the chief guest and Global Strategic Sustainability Ltd. Chairman/CEO and INSEAD Business School, France Executive in Residence Dr. Ravi Fernando as the keynote speaker. 

IPM Sri Lanka President Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri, IPM Council Hony. Secretary and National HR Conference 2017 organising committee Chairman Ken Vijayakumar, IPM Council Members, invitees and students from the IPM Business School participated at the conference which attracted over 1,000 professionals representing the HR fraternity as well as other industry professionals. The conference is considered as an ideal platform to engage in discussion, exchange thought leading ideas and insights relating to how people work in the rapidly evolving workplace of tomorrow.   

“The conference brings together many experts in the fields of HR and technology to share their insights on how digitisation is fuelling disruption in the HR landscape, driving deep inroads into HR and society at large changing the way we that we have known it, and driving the need for change in the way we manage the people in the workplace and the workplace itself. This being the largest gathering of senior HR practitioners, consultants, academics as well as non-HR related personnel from Sri Lanka and the South Asia region, the IPM NHRC 2017 will undoubtedly be a conference bringing significant value to each and every participant,” said IPM Sri Lanka President Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri in his welcome address. 

The keynote address of the conference was delivered by Dr. Ravi Fernando on the topic ‘Emerging HR Leaders & their role in Driving Strategy’. 

A lineup of eminent speakers including Dr. Saman Wimalaratne (HR Analytics to Optimise ROI), Dr. Raj Raghavan (Managing Innovative & Disruptive Talent in High Tech Companies), Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri (Touch Savvy HR Leaders – Caring, Daring and Sharing), Mara Tolia (Working Out Loud and Future of Work) and Esther Makintosh (Developing a New Generation of Youth Employees for Growth Sector of the Sri Lankan Economy) shared their insights during the multiple technical sessions of the conference. The scheduled Q&As after each session provided ample opportunity for the audience to clarify any doubts and/or pose their own questions for clarification.  

The panel discussion on the timely topic of ‘Transformational Leadership’ was moderated by Ajith Bopitiya. The panel comprised Unilever Sri Lanka Chairman Carl Cruz, Expolanka Holdings PLC Director and CEO Jagath Pathirana, The Institute of Leadership Learning and Transformation Founder Bindu Vinodhan, Leadership and Organisation Development Consultant from Bangalore, India Smitha Murthy and McLarens Group Joint Managing Director Shehara Jayawardana.

IPM Council Hony. Secretary and IPM National HR Conference 2017 organising committee Chairman Ken Vijayakumar said, “Meeting the emerging challenges in the HR landscape is gaining constant and profound focus. The role that Human Resource Management plays to deliver competitive advantage has to be redefined to be abreast of the challenges in a global perspective. The pace at which high tech, automation and the integration of solutions based on IT keeps evolving, have opened exciting pathways for tech savvy human capital with the right blend of HR business acumen.” 

In addition to the featured events such as the National HR Excellence Awards, The Great HR Debate and the HR Service Providers’ Exhibition, The IPM NHRC 2017 Conference featured a unique and new event ‘IPM Great HR Practices’, yet another first by IPM Sri Lanka, which gave its flagship event an international flavour. As the country’s apex body relating to the HR profession, IPM Sri Lanka strives to promote best practices in the sphere of HR and Learning & Development. Through this new initiative – ‘IPM Great HR Practices’, four selected corporates were given the opportunity to share their unique and proven HR practices which added significant value to their own organisations. Apart from recognising novel and value-adding HR practices that have evolved from among Sri Lankan organisations, the forum is a means of filling the lacuna that prevails in the sphere of literature on best HR practices in the country. 

 IPM Sri Lanka keeps pace with the new trends and concepts in HR by engaging continuously with the business community to share experiences, thoughts and insights in order to enrich and enhance the HR profession. It actively encourages and promotes members’ participation at international conferences and forums to provide exposure, build networks and conduct research into areas of interest to the HR profession in Sri Lanka. 

IPM was founded in 1959 and was subsequently incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1976. IPM is affiliated to the Asia Pacific Foundation 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 900 Professional Members who serve in both public and private organisations.