People leaders to be laurelled at NHRC 2014

Monday, 16 June 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The National HR Conference, a renowned and much-sought-after creation of the nation’s leader in human resource management, the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM), is scheduled to be held on the 18 & 19 June 2014. This annual event is the trendsetter in the HR industry; new trends, methods and policies are ventilated at this event, making it the ideal platform for all HR enthusiasts. The conference comprises a combination of events dedicated to the different aspects of the industry and each year the conference affords an exceptional component both original and exciting. And this year it is the recognition of people leaders under the categories of People Leader – Finance; People Leader – Marketing; People Leader – Supply Chain.

Explaining this new aspect of the NHRC, IPM Sri Lanka People Leaders’ Awards Chairman Ajith R. de Costa indicates that IPM being the nation’s leader in HR, and as the institution has been mandated with by the Parliament of Sri Lanka, it the duty of the institution to recognise people leaders. Further elaborating on the concept of ‘People Leaders’ and ‘Human Resource Managers’ (HRM), and how they contrast and complement each other, he exemplifies that the task of the HRM is policy management and providing of core concepts of managing people, whereas the application of such policies and concepts lies in the hands of line-managers who are the true managers of people – People leaders and HR managers are part of the same team working towards the same goal. Established under an Act of Parliament, the IPM has been mandated with the people development aspect of the country, especially where the tools and policies introduced match the economic aspirations of the country. With this directive, the IPM is committed towards the recognition of exceptional managers of people: People Leaders. According to de Costa, this year people leaders will be selected from three industries: Finance, Marketing and Supply-Chain – one leader from each industry. Explaining the selection and awarding process he further explained that five attributes of people management are scrutinised in all candidates: develop people, support people performance, build organisation capability, mobilise individual commitment, and display personal character; and candidates are evaluated according to how well they perform as people leaders under these five attributes. The recognition of people leaders in the industries of finance, marketing and supply-chain is a national level initiative undertaken by the IPM in collaboration with three related professional bodies: the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), Chartered Institute of Marketing – Sri Lanka (CIM), and the Institute of Supplies and Materials Management (ISMM). Explaining how the awardees will be selected, the Chairman states that the award program will be evaluated by an eminent panel of judges facilitated by the Nielson Company. Elaborating on the selection process he explained that there are three aspects to the selection process: a 360-degree assessment; applicants’ individual presentations; and information and facts supplied by the applicants. The high-power judging panel for the selection process comprises top HR academia, high-ranking HR professionals, leading businessmen from the respective industries, and three representatives from the collaborating professional bodies: CA Sri Lanka, CIM, and ISMM. According to the chairman there has been a good response towards these awards from the three professions which makes it a great success for the IPM as well as the other three professional bodies. The chairman also expressed his gratitude to the sponsors of these three prestigious awards namely, Sampath Bank PLC – People Leader – Marketing, Loadstar Ltd –People Leader – Supply Chain and IPM Sri Lanka People Leader – Finance for being partnered in recognising People Leaders of Sri Lanka. As a closing point he states that even though this year the national awards for people leaders are limited to three professions by 2015 the IPM plans to extend it to other professions, such as IT and engineering, to identify and laurel Sri Lanka’s People Leaders.