Heineken Lanka adjudged Great Place to Work

Managing Director Maud Meijboon Van Wel with Heineken Lanka team

Heineken Lanka Limited, the Sri Lankan subsidiary of The Heineken Company, has received recognition as one of the Best Workplaces in the Manufacturing and Production Industry of Sri Lanka for 2023 by Great Place to Work, a globally recognised authority that identifies and studies the best workplaces in over 150 countries and territories.
The accolade was conferred upon Heineken Lanka after a comprehensive survey of over 27,300 employees from 45 reputable organisations in Sri Lanka’s manufacturing and production industry. The survey aimed to identify the 15 best workplaces from this list of companies and the results revealed that the employees in the best 15 companies scored highest on pride in the organisation, good facilities and employee cooperation.
Heineken Lanka Limited Managing Director Maud Meijboom-van Wel expressed deep appreciation for the award, citing the company’s commitment to unlocking the full potential of its people, promoting diversity and inclusion and supporting employee wellbeing, especially during turbulent times as the elements that made all the difference. 
Meijboom-van Wel said, “At Heineken, our purpose is to brew the joy of true togetherness to inspire a better world and it all boils down to the emphasis we have placed on caring for our people and our planet through our global EverGreen strategy, which we have actioned to achieve superior and balanced growth.”
Despite operating in a heavily regulated dark market, which poses challenges that can limit women from working in supply chain and sales, Heineken Lanka has successfully created a fair, inclusive and equitable workplace, said Director Human Resources Paduma Subasinghe. 
He went on to say that the company also faired extremely well on its global climate survey, recording a 91 percent overall employee engagement score. Notably, he said further, the company also scored 90 percent on the metric of being recognised as an equal opportunity provider for all to have a successful career, regardless of race, colour, gender, religion or sexual orientation.
A major factor behind the achievement is the company’s dedication to expose its talent to the best of opportunities available within the global Heineken network. Through this approach, the company has secured both long and short-term exposure assignments in regional and global placements, including Amsterdam, Greece, Malaysia and even New Caledonia for several of its team, who comprise its 43 percent manager-and-above top talent pool category. 
Simultaneously, the company’s Women in Sales initiative is also creating support programmes and breaking gender barriers, with good practices and progress coming from different parts of the world. Moreover, Heineken Lanka has committed to other programmes such as the Heineken Graduate Trainee programme as well as ensuring that 100 percent of its people managers are trained on inclusive leadership.