IPM President leads team to UK CIPD HR Conference

From left: IPM Sri Lanka Council Member Sanath Palliyaguru, CIPD UK CEO Peter Cheese, IPM Sri Lanka President Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri and Council Member and IPM National HR Conference (NHRC) 2018 Chairman Priyankara Seneviratne

IPM Sri Lanka President Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri together with a team of HR professionals represented IPM Sri Lanka at the 70th Annual Conference of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), UK recently. 

Aptly themed ‘Embracing the New World of Work’, the conference was held at the Manchester Conventions Centre, UK. The CIPD HR Conference is considered as one of the largest HR conferences in the world. The team accompanying Prof. Dharmasiri included Council Member and IPM National HR Conference (NHRC) 2018 Chairman Priyankara Seneviratne and IPM Sri Lanka Council Member Sanath Palliyaguru. It has been a customary practice for CIPD, UK to invite the IPM Sri Lanka president and other IPM delegates to the conference on an annual basis.

The ‘New World of Work’ is the new work environment where digitalization of work, the impact of technology on jobs and the entire societal framework changing what has hitherto been the norm and the resultant increased pace of transformation that is already impacting the day- to-day lives of one and all. This new world of work presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities from an organisational as well as people perspective. 

“The key takeaway from attending this global HR conference is to reflect how the aspects of the new world of work will be applicable to Sri Lanka as Sri Lankan organisations in many business and industry sectors as well as the society in general too are in the midst of this digital transformational journey,” said Prof. Dharmasiri. 

“The demands being placed on organisations and their people are immense, which is constantly highlighting the increasingly strategic role that is required of HR professionals in order to acquire a competitive advantage in a fast-changing global playing field. As the nation’s leader in human resource management, IPM Sri Lanka is in the forefront of developing globally competitive HR leaders with global reach and local roots who will guide us to embrace and take advantage of the new world of work for the betterment of our organisations and its people,” he added.

The CIPD HR Conference made a compelling call for action for organisations, leaders and professionals to champion good work and more ethical decisions. The conference programme was intended to empower the participants to become a driving force for the good of organisations, individuals and the wider society and included a wide variety of topic areas and learning formats.

The conference provided an opportunity to look at how organisations need to change and modernize their people practices not only to succeed in a new reality of work but also to shape a fairer future that will benefit everyone in a more inclusive manner.