Jonathan Alles, Managing Director / CEO of HNB launching the HNB Talent Space elearning solution


Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) has invested in a high-end digital solution for the development of its staff by completely revolutionizing and overhauling its current elearning system. 

HNB was one of the first organizations to introduce elearning for its staff. The first elearning system was developed in-house in 2005 and was the recipient of a Silver Award in the “In-House Applications” category at the National Best Quality Software Awards 2007 conducted by the British Computer Society.
Over the years HNB has progressively used elearning to strengthen its training and development function. During 2014, 37% of pedagogic training was replaced by virtual learning through the elearning portal. 

Mindful of the changing work scenarios with more and more millennials joining the workforce, HNB has tried to place training on a platform that would appeal to the younger members of its staff and made a strategic decision to make learning seamless. 

The investment in the HNB Talent Space is part of the long term strategy of the Bank. 

HNB Talent Space is a cloud based solution and can be accessed anytime, anywhere through any personal device. The system has many features such as courses, library, discussion boards, examination modules, ranks and badges and has been developed 
as an interactive mechanism for learning with social media aspects to cater to the needs of the Gen Ys in the Bank. 

HNB has partnered with M/s Creative E-Learning (Pvt) Ltd, |the local branch of Creative Solutions (Pvt) Ltd which is one of the leading software companies in Sri Lanka to develop this elearning system.

Chiranthi Cooray, Chief Human Resource Officer of HNB said the Bank’s HR function has transformed from an administrator to a synergistic business partner further augmenting the Bank as a learning organization. We take a long term view of our investment in people and commit resources to provide professional and quality programmes for our staff, designed to meet their growing aspirations as well as our business needs. 

These programmes extend beyond job training to capacity building for leadership, supporting career progression and personal development. HNB was recently awarded the “Excellence in Training & Development – Overall Award for Best Results Based Training” at the Asia’s Training & Development Excellence Awards 2015 for the 4th time in 4 consecutive years, which is a recognition of HNB’s focused strategy, dedication and commitment to build capacity 
and support personal development and aspirations of our staff. 

HNB’s HR has been consistently recognized for its best practices. During the period 2014/15 the Bank was also awarded the prestigious “Gold” award at the HRM Awards 2014 organised by the Association of Human Resource Professionals; Award for Talent Management at the Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards 2014 organized by the World HRD Congress; Merit Awards for “Talent Management” and “People Development” at the National HR Excellence Awards organized by the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) Sri Lanka.