5th Annual ACCA Students’ Conference, an immense success

Monday, 30 September 2013 00:44 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Themed as ‘Success through Synergy,’ the 5th Annual Students’ Conference of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) was held recently at Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo. The conference commenced with a welcome address by ACCA Students’ Committee President Devruwan Fernando. ACCA Sri Lanka President Rajiv Casie Chitty also addressed the audience and stated that synergies have become of prime importance for today’s businesses. He thanked the students’ committee for picking this very appropriate theme for discussion at the conference. Addressing a gathering of over 350 participants, Dialog Axiata Group Chief Executive Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya noted that the rise of new digital media platforms and social networks will find people absorbing information at a greater velocity from a wider set of channels and using that information in new ways. He outlined what it means to be a leader in this new, networked society and expressed that leadership today has become distributed and collaborative. He stated that human synergy will have a huge impact on an organisation’s capacity to effectively manage and make optimal use of their time and resources. He stressed that the speed of change would be the greatest challenge that leaders would face in the future, which will give way to fierce competition.

Nations Trust Bank Chief Executive Officer/Director Renuka Fernando speaking of ‘Risk and responsibility, managing expectations and differences’, stated that a synergistic working relationship has proved to be a powerful phenomenon for the success of the bank. Having identified that the relationship between an employee and supervisor can function in a way that blends the talents of both parties, NTB has created designated teams of individuals with diverse talents to work together in key areas of operation. Trainer/HRD Specialist Dananjaya Hettiarachchi, ranked amongst the top 20 speakers in the world, delivered an interesting and energetic presentation on ‘Limits just like fear are often just an illusion”. He pointed out methodologies on identifying one’s dreams and goals and designing an action plan to achieve them. “Unlearn your fears, push your limits and dare to challenge yourself to take the steps required to fulfilling your dreams,” he said. Sharing his views on ‘Being the agents of change’ Hayley’s BPO Managing Director Dr. Arul Sivagananathan reminded the audience that to have sustainable change, people will have to embrace and see it as important. He outlined a few case studies on how Hayley’s BPO had successfully implemented such change into their organisation. Hatton National Bank Chief Operating Officer Dilshan Rodrigo, in his presentation on ‘Collaborative skills required for tomorrows workplace’ touched on strategies to help people understand how to work collaboratively in the workplace and its benefits. A panel discussion followed on the topic ‘An engaged employee: Branding yourself’, featuring eminent professionals such as Hemas Transportation Sector Managing Director Kasturi C. Wilson, Ceylon Tobacco Co PLC HR Director Samanmali Chandrasiri, Brandix Head of Group HR Operations Ashanthi Fernando and Google Asia-Pacific Sri Lanka Country Consultant Rohan Jayaweera. The discussion was moderated by Echelon Magazine Chief Editor Shamindra Kulamannage. The panellists shared their views on personal branding and positioning oneself for success. The Conference this year was sponsored by: HNB as the Banking Partner, ANC and LG Smartphones as Co-Gold Sponsors and AMW as the Exclusive Silver Sponsor. Wijeya Newspapers had come on board as the Print Media Partners together with ART TV as the Television Partner and TNL Radio as the Radio Partner. The Photography Partner for the event was Dylan Seedin Photography. Bileeta and RR Donnelley were also mutual sponsors for this flagship event. As the largest global professional Accountancy body, ACCA Sri Lanka has formed the Students’ Committee to continually strive to support and uplift the career potential of the Sri Lankan youth through hosting events and a wide array of professional training initiatives. This is done to add value and enrich their soft-skills and to complement the theoretical knowledge while creating a platform for professional networking. The 5th Annual ACCA Students’ Conference was such an initiative.