HRM Awards 2007's Super 10 unveiled

The HRM Awards 2007 – Super 10 was held in Colombo in a gala event that saw some of Sri Lanka's leading corporates receiving honours for their master HRM strategies.

The event was organized by the Association of Human Resources Professionals (AHRP), together with Hewitt Associates, India with respected corporate sector leader Chandra Jayaratne as the chief guest.

The Super 10 companies to receive Gold Awards were Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC, Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd., DFCC, Hatton National Bank, HSBC, Keells Hotel Management Services, MAS Intimates Pvt. Ltd., Sampath Bank Ltd, SriLankan Airlines Ltd. and Virtusa (Pvt) Ltd. The companies to walk away with Silver Awards were Aitken Spence PLC, Fonterra Brands (Lanka) Pvt.Ltd., Hemas Manufacturing, Heritance Kandalama, John Keells Computer Services, Nations Trust Bank, Sri Lanka Insurance Corp. Ltd., TransAsia Hotel PLC and Union Assurance PLC.

The panel of judges for the awards, chaired by Professor Gunapala Nanayakkara (Managing Director - PIM, International Centre, Emirates), comprised Dr. Santrupt B Misra (Director - Aditya Birla Group), John Lavelle (Former HR Strategy Advisor - World Bank), Dr Norman Maharaj (Commissioner - Public Services Commission, South Africa), Aruna Fernando (President - CIMA Sri Lanka) and Ravi Peiris (Director General - Employers Federation of Ceylon).

Keynote speaker Professor Gunapala Nanayakkara, Managing Director, PIM - International Centre in Emirates commented that several conglomerates are now making efforts to give more importance to service than actual manufacturing. He urged local companies to collaborate and forge strong relationships with international organizations while pursuing small markets that are favourable to Sri Lanka as an approach to tolerate the brain drain. “We can tolerate the brain drain if people go abroad, get experience, comeback and promote the country,” he said.