IPM 2nd Research Symposium contributes to understanding new HR frontiers

From left: Symposium Co-Chair Dr. Bhadra Arachchige, Symposium Co-Chair Dr. Tissa Ravinda Perera, keynote speaker Prof. Danture Wickramasinghe of University of Glasgow, UK, chief guest Uva Wellassa University Founder Vice Chancellor Prof. Chandra Embuldeniya and  IPM Sri Lanka President Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri 

IPM Sri Lanka – the nation’s leader in human resource management – conducted the IPM Second Research Symposium on the theme ‘Exploring New Frontiers in HR: Creating Value’ recently at Galadari Hotel in Colombo. 
This is the second consecutive research symposium conducted by IPM Sri Lanka to encourage and explore new areas in HR and to understand their impact on organisational efficiencies. 
IPM Sri Lanka President Professor  Ajantha Dharmasiri, chief guest Uva Wellassa University Founder Vice Chancellor Dr. Chandra Embuldeniya, keynote speaker Prof. Danture Wickremesinghe – University of Glasgow UK,  Second IPM Research Symposium Co-chairs Dr. Bhadra J.H. Arachchige and Dr. Tissa Ravindra Perera, IPM Council Members, researchers themselves and a large gathering of HR professionals, academics and students were present at the symposium to witness the coming together of academic research and HR professionals. 
Emphasizing on the need and importance of conducting research on topics related to human resource management, Prof. Dharmasiri said that such research goes a long way in helping to understand human behaviour in working environments. 
“The research effort is a coming together of HR professionals and academics to find answers to problems affecting organisations and the findings of the research will no doubt make a significant contribution towards the benefit and development of organisations,” said Prof. Dharmasiri.   
“The Second IPM Research Symposium is an opportune initiative undertaken by IPM Sri Lanka to encourage research into understanding important areas of human behaviour in organisational settings. It also helps to position IPM Sri Lanka as a research-based professional body in the HR sphere. The efforts of the researchers are truly commendable as currently there is not only a dearth of research effort into HR but also a lack of understanding of how HR initiatives and programmes in organisations contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation itself,” he added. 
“We are encouraged that 28 research papers covering a wide array of interesting and timely HR topics were received by the deadline for submission of research papers,” said Dr. Bhadra and Arachchige.
“These research papers were evaluated by an eminent panel of evaluators comprising experienced HR professionals, HR consultants and academics who selected 13 of them to be presented at the technical sessions of the symposium. We are impressed by the high quality of research and their findings that were presented by the researchers today,” she added.  
During the proceedings of the Second IPM Research Symposium, Prof. Dharmasiri presented his thoughts and research on employee engagement measuring scales while Dr. Sunil J. Nawaratne presented his thoughts and research on a conceptual model for the use of human capital development. These were well received by the audience and set the stage for the presentation of the selected researches during the two technical sessions which were chaired by Dr. Trevor Mendis and Dr. P. Kailasapathy supported by panellists Dr. Seshika Kariyapperuma, Dr. Arosha Adikaram, Janaka Kumarasinghe (first technical session) and Dr. Alan Robertson, T.N.S. De Peiris and Dulani Nissanka (second technical session).