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Tuesday, 18 March 2014 00:35 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Q: How would you describe yourself?
A: My passion for people took root at the very beginning of my career when I joined the Sri Lanka Army to do my duty by the nation. This was at a time when the country was up against a ruthless terrorist outfit that was determined to retard the progress of our motherland by destroying people and property. My 11-year stint in the Army not only shaped my life as an ‘officer and a gentleman’ but taught me invaluable lessons in working with and through people; the essence in HR management.
It is while serving in the forces that I mastered the art of people management that thrives on values such as humility, unity, togetherness, communication, mutual understanding, empathy etc. which are also the very success factors in modern management. Walking straight into the business world from a military background was hence not difficult; in fact, I believe my military career served as a ‘springboard’ for me to launch my career in human resource management. So the answer to your question is a simple one. I like to describe myself as a ‘practical human being who can get things done’.
Q: But HR management requires more than ‘practical ability’?
A: You’re right. HR is perhaps the only subject that requires a combination of skills; subject specific knowledge, personal characteristics and practical exposure. Your success as a HR person will depend on all these equally important facets. At the time of my entering the HR community, I had a thorough exposure to people management but needed to enhance my theoretical understanding on the subject matter. This was when I teamed up with IPM in 1996 by enrolling myself in the National Diploma in Personnel Management, the precursor to PQHRM and highest professional qualification in human resource management offered by our Institute. I have not looked back since.
My deep-rooted passion for people got me moving within the HR community, involving in numerous IPM activities while being a student and later as a young member of the institute. Thanks to the visionary leaders this institute has had within its roll, IPM has grown from strength to strength and has emerged as the nation’s leader in human resource management today. The knowledge, insights and wisdom they shared with me provided the opportunity of bridging my gaps and enabled me to mould myself as a competent HR person. Since completing my National Diploma in HRM, I went on to complete my MBA from the University of Western Sydney, Australia and have also exposed myself to many modern HR and business management concepts and processes, which are essential technical competencies for the modern day HR practitioner.
Q: People talk about a concept called ‘New HR’? Does such a concept exist?
A: I find an interesting explanation to your question in the research work titled, Beyond Tradition: Reach Out, Venture Out, Seek Out, Break Out by John Boudreau, Ian Ziskin and Carrie Gibson. The trio suggests that human resources can make great progress by simply allocating more time, budget and expertise to the trends that have the greatest potential effect on organisations. To my mind, the foundation for this concept called ‘New HR’ is well explained in this research.
Reaching out refers to infusing talent from other disciplines such as marketing, finance, logistics and engineering, and bringing those disciplines to bear on HR issues such as the employment value proposition, options-based leadership development, optimised talent supply chains and risk-optimised performance management.
Venturing out is our ability to exert influence beyond the traditional role of functional specialist, through direct interactions with constituents such as government, regulators, investors and global collective movements; a function we at IPM promote aggressively since of late.
Seeking out is to finding and skilfully surfacing unpopular or unstated facts or assumptions that can be debilitating if not addressed. Such hidden assumptions are often first visible among employees, and HR is in a position to ‘sense’ them early.
Finally, Breaking out refers to leading transformational change. As we all know, change will be a constant, not a periodic. The challenge for HR therefore is to create change-savvy and agile organisations by supporting organisations in this change process by working closely with employees who are the initiators of change.
Modern HR also focuses on concepts such as ‘reverse mentoring’ where many organisations now have mentoring programs where the younger generation is mentoring the older generation to help them with technology skills while the older generation transfer to the younger generation job specific knowledge. Such are concepts that are fast gaining acceptance in the workplace and hence all HR practitioners must see how best such concepts can be made use of to meet the fast changing business environment.
The ‘New HR’ hence refers to this strategic approach we need to adopt in modern day organisations; particularly in view of the evolving nature of business stemming out of social, cultural and economic implications. Amidst all the operational HR work thrust upon us, our real value-add will come only from the strategic input we provide in organisations.
Q: How can IPM Sri Lanka contribute towards this effort?
A: Preparing the country’s business community to successfully meet these emerging trends is the primary role we have to perform. To this end, we collaborate with diverse stakeholders and continuously add value to our portfolio of study programs so we are able to live up to the high expectations demanded by Sri Lanka’s business community.
Quality has been a priority in all our initiatives; be it study programs, consultancy assignments, research, surveys or education activities. Recent awards and accolades earned by IPM Sri Lanka from many respected entities stand testimony to this fact. As a forward looking entity, IPM has already embarked on a strategy to broad base our membership by teaming up with similar professional bodies and by bringing in professionals from diverse disciplines to work with IPM thereby reaching out to fresh talent.
IPM also adopts a multi-prong approach to connect with key stakeholder segments such as the government, policy makers and regulatory bodies through many forums and action groups so we are able to unleash the HR perspective in vital decision making processes. On the education front, IPM makes every effort to maintain standards by constantly reviewing its curriculums and upgrading our course structures as appropriate, thereby maintaining our stature as the Nation’s Leader in HRM.
If I may highlight another pertinent issue, as Sri Lanka’s premier HR education institute, we believe we have a key role to play in converting our migrant labour from an unskilled workforce to a skilled workforce. This is in view of their critical importance to the national economy as the biggest contributor to foreign exchange reserves. We therefore have to take the lead in adding value to the country’s human resources which is not something IPM can undertake singlehandedly.
As the country’s leading HR education provider, IPM Sri Lanka takes cognisance of this fact and has already collaborated with many professional bodies, industry groups and government authorities through a series of training, education and advocacy programs to meet this challenge.
Q: How do you foresee the future of IPM Sri Lanka?
A: IPM Sri Lanka has reached many a milestone during the past five and a half decades due to the sheer commitment of those valued stakeholders. Our membership, students and employees have played a key part in the success of this institute.
This is the strength we possess to face the uncertain future with confidence. Apart from continuing with many progressive initiatives that have been introduced by successive governing councils, we look forward to further consolidate and strengthen the brand ‘IPM Sri Lanka’ in the eyes of the public, particularly among the ‘Y Generation’ who are now embracing HR as a progressive management discipline due to its critical importance within organisations.
We are also working closely with the employer community to transfer hands-on skills and knowledge to our PQHRM graduates, thus giving this prestigious qualification more value and recognition. One other area that will be put on fast track is our Research and Consultancy Unit which has been revamped to meet the growing demand from the employer community. In addition to undertaking training and education work, the Unit will aggressively contribute towards the HR fraternity through important studies and surveys while undertaking strategic assignments on behalf of our customers, thus providing them that much needed HR expertise at an affordable fee.
IPM also intends utilising its strong international affiliations with CIPD, APFHRM, WFPMA and the global HR network to promote best practices within Sri Lankan organisations while facilitating knowledge transfer and exposure opportunities for the membership.
In terms of our reach and accessibility, IPM will continue its strategy of reaching out to student communities by locating in potential townships for the convenience of our students. We also intend strengthening our faculty with diverse expertise in order to give our students an opportunity to expose themselves in to multidisciplinary work practices so they are able to better understand the business environment and the interdisciplinary nature of the HR function. The collaboration between IPMSL and CA Sri Lanka is one such initiative that exemplifies this thinking.
I believe this institute will achieve even greater heights in the foreseeable future adding more value and meaning to the human resource management profession. On behalf of the institute, I extend a warm invitation to all our stakeholders, especially the membership, students and the employer community to support IPM in its efforts to propel HR as a value creating discipline within organisations. Only then will we be able to derive optimum benefit from this invaluable resource, people of our nation.
