Monday May 18, 2026
Monday May 18, 2026
Monday, 18 May 2026 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
CIPM Immediate Past President
Ken Vijayakumar
I write this not as the architect of something grand, but as someone fortunate enough to be in the right place, at the right time, surrounded by the right people. The story of the Great HR Quiz is not my story; it is the story of CIPM as an institution, of a profession that dared to take itself seriously, and of an extraordinary community of HR practitioners who showed up, year after year, and made something remarkable out of a simple idea.
An evening that changed everything
It was 2014. I was then serving as Head of Human Resources at Pan Asia Bank, and I had accompanied our team to the Annual Bankers' Quiz at the Jaic Hilton in Colombo. As the evening progressed, I found myself less engaged with the competition and more absorbed in a quiet, nagging thought; could this be done differently? The format was manual, the pace slow, and opportunities for genuine engagement felt limited.
What I observed simply sparked in me a desire to explore what such an event might look like if reimagined from the ground up, through the lens of the HR profession.
Later that year, I had the privilege of being appointed President of CIPM Sri Lanka for the council years 2014 to 2016. It was a responsibility I did not take lightly. CIPM, as Sri Lanka's apex body for Human Resource Management, carries a mandate that extends far beyond certification; it is a custodian of the profession itself.
"I did not walk into the presidency with a master plan. I walked in with a question; how do we make this profession shine?"
The idea takes shape
The Great HR Quiz was never a one-person idea. From the very first conversation, it was a collaborative endeavour. Together with a dedicated group of council members and CIPM staff, we designed an event that would replace pen and paper with electronic devices, incorporate five rounds spanning HR knowledge, current affairs, and sports, and bring together up to five representatives per organisation, fostering institutional pride over individual glory.
We brought in credible management professionals, IT experts, and respected academics as judges, chose a five-star hotel as the venue, and introduced a Fellowship Networking Session after the competition; rooted in the conviction that what happens when the quiz ends matters just as much as the quiz itself.
When 38 organisations registered for that inaugural edition, exceeding my internal target of 35, the message from Sri Lanka's HR community was clear; we are ready for this.
"The night the Great HR Quiz was born, the real stars were the HR professionals who showed up and made it come alive."
The baton passes, and the event grows stronger
What fills me with the deepest satisfaction is not what happened during my tenure, but what happened after it. The true measure of any initiative is whether it outlasts the person who started it; and the Great HR Quiz has done so, magnificently.
Successive CIPM presidents and councils did not merely maintain the event; they elevated it. The 2026 edition, held at Monarch Imperial, Sri Jayewardenepura, saw more than 75 teams across 16 industry sectors compete under a bold new format, moving from knowledge-recall to real-life, case-based HR scenarios that tested applied thinking across the full employee lifecycle. That evolution reflects visionary leadership, and I salute every president and council that drove it forward.
Taking it to the region
In 2017, under the presidency of Professor Ajantha Dharmasiri, I had the honour of representing Sri Lanka on the Board of the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM) and presenting the Great HR Quiz as a formal best practice at an APFHRM Board meeting in the Philippines.
The positive reception that day confirmed what I had quietly hoped; that the underlying idea of a knowledge competition that energises, connects, and celebrates HR professionals transcends geography. The seed, once again, was planted by a team, not by any individual.
Pakistan writes a new chapter
On 21 April 2026, I received news that genuinely moved me. The Pakistan Society of Human Resource Management (PSHRM) had successfully hosted its first HR knowledge championship in Karachi, modelled on the Great HR Quiz, with CIPM Sri Lanka serving as the Official Knowledge Partner.
The competition, titled the 'HR Talent Tussle,' saw leading organisations from across Pakistan's corporate landscape compete, supported by distinguished partners including the Centre for Executive Education at IBA Karachi. Martin Dow Limited emerged as its inaugural champions.
The person who made this cross-border collaboration a reality was CIPM's Immediate Past President, Ken Vijayakumar; a leader whose commitment to the profession extends well beyond our shores. His efforts are a reflection of CIPM's broader vision; that Sri Lankan HR best practices, when genuinely excellent, carry both the right and the responsibility to be shared with the world.
"CIPM is moving ahead with its vision to share best practices with the region and, ultimately, with the globe. This is how we can make a meaningful contribution to our profession."
A personal footnote
At the Great HR Quiz 2026, the team from International Distillers Ltd., the organisation I currently serve as Chief HR Officer, participated for the very first time. They won; comprehensively, on debut, against 74 other teams of experienced HR professionals.
I watched from the audience, almost unable to believe what I was seeing; the event I had helped conceive more than a decade ago, now being won by the very team I work alongside. The pride I felt, however, was not for myself. It was for the four individuals on that team who prepared, who showed up, and who performed. And it was for every one of the 75 teams who competed that evening, because each of them, by their presence, validated everything that so many people had worked so hard to build
Gratitude; the only note to end on
The Great HR Quiz is not my story; it never was. It belongs to CIPM, to every council member, staff, sponsor, judge, and volunteer who shaped it over more than a decade, and to the hundreds of HR professionals who competed and continue to grow it today.
It belongs to the presidents who followed, each of whom chose to make it better, and to the current CIPM leadership, who are writing its next chapters with ambition and integrity.
Above all, it belongs to the profession of Human Resource Management; a discipline with the power to transform organisations, communities, and lives. If the Great HR Quiz has helped that profession shine even a little brighter, every effort was entirely worth it.
I am grateful beyond words; to CIPM, to the profession, and to everyone who dared to believe, alongside me, that we could build something worthy of the people we serve.
(The author is a Chartered HR Professional and former President of CIPM Sri Lanka and Board Member of APFHRM. He currently serves as Chief Human Resources Officer at International Distillers Ltd., and Non-Executive Board Member of Richard Pieris Finance Ltd.,)
