HNB MD/CEO Jonathan Alles wins prestigious HR award

Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles, Chief Operating Officer Dilshan Rodrigo, Chief Human Resource Officer Chiranthi Cooray with HNB HR team

Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) Managing Director/CEO Jonathan Alles was conferred the award ‘CEO With HR Orientation’ at the Global HR Excellence Awards 2016, sponsored by Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) UK and endorsed by World HRD Congress and Asian Confederation of Businesses. 

With a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Stirling, Scotland and as a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Sri Lanka, Jonathan Alles has almost three decades of banking experience having served both domestic and international banks in strategic and leadership roles. He presently serves as Chairman of Sri Lanka Banks’ Association.

 
HNB Chief Human Resource Officer L. Chiranthi Cooray accepted the award on behalf of her CEO at the awards ceremony held recently in Mumbai, India.

“For any organisation, the CEO’s role is not just to show vision and action but to be part of the human resource (HR) strategy building HR into the fabric of business. The CEO With HR Orientation does exactly this - builds HR into the fabric of business. Research shows that 70 percent of effort related to people management is the time a CEO spends on. Therefore, any CEO With HR Orientation will surely combine HR stagy on to the fabric of business,” said World CSR Day & World Sustainability Founder Dr. R. L. Bhatia. 

With staff strength of 4273, HNB has earned recognition as a sound workplace that attracts and retains the right people and provide scope for individual development by making its employees feel valued, included and engaged. The ‘Hatna Family’ concept stands at the core of its efforts towards creating a team that is the best in the banking and financial services sector, not only professionally but as all round performers. The many HRD systems and policies in place, the bank’s value system and culture fosters a workplace where work-life balance is maintained, diversity upheld and ethical conduct a prerogative. 

With a diverse and multi-ethnic workforce scattered over 250 locations throughout the country the HR challenges are many. The HNB culture is firmly embedded on trust, mutual respect and acceptance. The concept of Hatna Family is a key driver for holistic HR implementation. 

HNB has always made conscious efforts to adopt cutting-edge HR practices and endeavoured to set a standard, to become a model for benchmarking in the industry and across all the sectors in Sri Lanka. Under Jonathan’s leadership both during a short stint as Deputy Chief Executive Officer/Chief Operating Officer before taking over as Managing Director/CEO, Hatton National Bank has honed its HR strategies and driven a cultural mindset change in its employees.

Under his leadership, HNB has developed to be an even more vibrant brand driven through technology, a sales and service culture enabled by sustained and careful reengineering supported by centralization and regionalisation efforts. Working on five core HR strategies during the last three years, HR at HNB has transformed from an administrative function into a key business partner role. 

HNB has made significant investments to support the core HR strategy to solidify the leadership bench-strength by setting up the Leadership Top 100 and its succession plan i.e. the three-tier leadership programme.  The bank has embarked on formulating a leadership development track for high potential young managers and mid-career professionals with a view to strengthening the leadership Top 100 for the future. 

A structured programme was co-created with a UK based leadership development consultancy firm. The programme was the first of its kind at the bank, creating an executive education and alumnus concept with the leadership track defined as ‘Aspire’ for the Hi Potentials, ‘Acumen’ for middle-level leaders and ‘Catalyst’ for the Mid-senior leaders. The programme embodies 3600 leadership assessment, executive coaching, classroom learning and syndicate group assignments in three modular programmes of three days each spread over a period of six months.  

‘Aspire’ aims to create aspirational value aiding retention of ‘Hi Potentials’ to strengthen the leadership pipeline for future. ‘Acumen’ further hones the business and leadership acumen of the middle level leaders to enable progression into senior level, taking over more business/service vertical responsibilities. ‘Catalyst’ influences high-level organisational outcomes transcending functional disciplines to act as a catalyst to promote organizational growth and change as a mid-senior leader.