From left: CIPM Sri Lanka Treasurer Priyankara Seniviratne, CIPM Sri Lanka Secretary Col. Saman Jayawickrama (Retd), NHRC 2024 Chairman Air Vice Marshal Manoaj Keppetipola, CIPM Sri Lanka President Ken Vijayakumar, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha, Executives’ Global Network Co-founder and Managing Director Nick Jonsson, CIPM Sri Lanka Immediate Past President Jayantha Amarasinghe, CIPM Sri Lanka Vice President Priyantha Ranasinghe and CIPM Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer U.A.C. Obeyesekere open the conference

The National HR Conference (NHRC), organised by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) Sri Lanka, was held at Monarch Imperial, under the theme, ‘Navigating the HR Horizon’. 

The inauguration of the conference featured a keynote address by Executives’ Global Network (EGN) Co-founder and Managing Director and an esteemed Executive Coach Nick Jonsson, who dwelled on the topic ‘Leading with Purpose and Authenticity’. 

The chief guest at the conference, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha, emphasised the importance of the HR sector discipline and its future. 

Notable sessions on day two commenced with a session on the conference theme by Singapore Management University Executive Development Senior Faculty and Programme Director Dr. Tanvi Gautam. Siam City Cement Lanka Ltd Chief People Officer and CIPM Vice President Priyantha Ranasinghe moderated the session.

The ‘Do without being told - Sustainability is a Mindset’ panel discussion was moderated by A. Baur & Company (Pvt.) Ltd Senior General Manager HR, Administration, Purchasing and Sustainability and CIPM President Ken Vijayakumar and the panellists were University of Colombo Professor Emeritus Prof. Sarath Kotagama, Aitken Spence PLC Executive Director Plantations and Business Development Dr. Rohan Fernando and MAS Holdings Head of Social Sustainability and General Manager Sustainable Business Amanthi Perera. 

The ‘AI-enabled HR for Greater Productivity’ session was moderated by Tropical Findings (Pvt.) Ltd Director and CIPM Past President Dhammika Fernando and the panellists were Infomate (Pvt.) Ltd CEO Jehan Perinpanayagam, 99x Chief People Officer Damitha Jayasinghe and PickMe Chief Human Resources Officer Lydia Mascarenhas. 

The ‘DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) in the local context, is it a myth?’ panel topic was moderated by David Pieris Holdings Head of Group HR and CIPM Council Member Davina Kern. Equal Ground Founder and Executive Director Rosanna Flamer Caldera, John Keells Holdings Executive Vice President/Chief People Officer and Head of Sustainability, ERM and Group Initiatives Isuru Gunasekera and Diversity Collective Lanka (DCLK) President Bani Chandrasena were the other panellists.