IT industry bags 6 out of Top 20 Great Place to Work in Sri Lanka Awards

From left: MillenniumIT Head of Human Resources Bani Chandrasena, IFS R&D International Vice President/COO Ranil Rajapakse, Virtusa Senior Vice President and General Manager Madu Ratnayake, 99X Technology Co-Founder/CEO Mano Sekaram, attune Lanka Senior Vice President Human Resources Ken Elmer and E-W Information Systems Chairman/CEO Sanjeewa Wickramanayake

Great Place to Work Institute, a global research, consulting and training firm in partnership with LMD and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, recently presented the Best Companies to Work for in Sri Lanka for 2015. 

A key highlight of this year’s awards was that six out of the 20 awards were bagged by IT firms in Sri Lanka, setting the benchmark for HR best practices in the country. Employees at 99X Technology, IFS, MillenniumIT, Virtusa, attune and E-W Information Systems shared that they trust their management, take pride in their job, and express feelings of community and teamwork with their colleagues, all of which establish the foundation of a great place to work. 

Sri Lanka’s IT industry has shown its prowess not only in terms of its contribution to the local economy but also in terms of the employee-friendly workplace cultures it has created with pride, respect, camaraderie, credibility and fairness. These organisations have been recognised by local and global bodies for excellence in HR practices for fostering work ethics, values and effectiveness through employee engagement and innovation.

This recognition is deemed a significant achievement for the local IT industry, which together with the BPM sector is aiming to reach $5 billion in export revenue by 2022 and is currently at an estimated revenue of $850 million. Deploying best practices in human resource management to optimise productivity will be essential in achieving the industry target and driving industry growth.

According to Great Place to Work Institute, the study to identify the top 20 companies to work for in Sri Lanka encompasses a tried-and-tested model that has proven itself over a span of 36 years, in over 50 countries. It recognises that, in essence, high levels of trust create an engaged workforce. The institute says that this year’s study to select the top 20 companies to work for was based on research on over 12,000 employees in 60 companies representing over 14 business sectors. 

Great Place to Work Institute helps organisations identify, create and sustain great workplaces through the development of high-trust workplace cultures. It serves businesses, non-profits and government agencies in more than 50 countries on all six continents.