From left: SLIM Business Development AGM Mihirinie Fonseka, SLIM Vice President Pradeep Edward, JAT Holdings Human Resources Head Ruwan Egodage and SLIM Business Development Assistant Manager Asanga Seneviratne

JAT Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd entered into an agreement with the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), the national body for marketing via a MOU with the intent of enhancing effective performances of the former’s sales staff with the SLIM Diploma in Professional Selling (DPS) programme.

The MOU was signed at the JAT Holdings Head Office in Battaramulla.

JAT Holdings aims to groom their sales staff to think out of the box in a bid to increase the revenue of the company and the SLIM DPS programme is tailor-made for this purpose.

The first batch of JAT Holdings sales personnel of the SLIM DPS programme comprises of 40 employees. Through a very practical oriented training schedule, they will be endowed with the skills and finer-points to achieve greater sales volumes and the means to add value to the company’s revenue growth and sustainability.

Qualifying the SLIM DPS will open new vistas in the professional lives of JAT Holdings sales personnel. DPS will enable them to follow SLIM NDSM (National Diploma in Sales Management) with exemptions. Further, it will enable them to sustain their career path by qualifying in the Post Graduate Diploma of SLIM.

JAT Holdings Human Resources Head Ruwan Egodage mentioned that being one of the top 10 manufacturers in Sri Lanka, JAT Holdings believes that a holistic approach towards investment in the knowledge of its employees, adds value to the company’s market share in the sector.

“As the driving force of the marketing fraternity of Sri Lanka, SLIM has the flexibility to conduct customized professional programmes for the corporate sector. The quality of these customized SLIM programmes has paid dividends. We are confident that joining hands with SLIM will serve to enhance the skills and motivation of our sales force and enable them to think differently and proactively. The exceptional skills in selling and marketing endowed to our employees by SLIM will elevate our company to greater heights,” he said.

SLIM Vice President Pradeep Edward said that as the national body for marketing, SLIM constantly benchmarks with international standards in designing training courses and programmes. He said the significance of SLIM programmes lies in the fact that they are customized to cater to the local context.
“SLIM programmes gear professionals to stand as equals with their global counterparts. The corporate sector in Sri Lanka has endorsed SLIM training programmes due to their effectiveness in enhancing the performance of their employees. We customize educational products to suit the varying requirements of our corporate partners. Thus, our services are personalized. Employees who participate in SLIM programmes have demonstrated exceptional skills at their respective organizations. SLIM constantly receives requests from organizations to groom their employees,” said Edward.

“Employee retention strategies and quality appraisals of the customized programmes will be a great opportunity to combine efforts to create value for both parties through collaboration whereas it elevates them to the helm of their careers,” he added.

SLIM CEO/Executive Director Sanath Senanayake said the core object of SLIM, the national body for marketing, is to enhance and continuously develop marketing education in Sri Lanka, and the entity is committed towards this object without compromising the standards. “SLIM has entered into agreements with top corporate entities over the years to contribute towards the development of the marketing profession. We thereby contribute to the forward journey of the country. The corporate sector has become the ambassador of customized training programmes and courses of SLIM. With these endorsements our relationships have grown exponentially.”

SLIM is dedicated towards setting high professional standards in order to derive greater recognition for the marketing profession and marketing excellence in Sri Lanka through education, training and development.

Credible and value-added courses/training programmes and affordable prices have made the marketing fraternity and the corporate sector in Sri Lanka perceive SLIM as an invaluable mentoring entity for over four decades.