DILRUKSHI KURUKULASURIYA

She is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC. She is an Attorney at Law, Law College, Sri Lanka, and an alumna of Hillwood College, Kandy. She is an HR Professional with over nineteen years of experience, and she is a Member of the Group Management Committee at DIMO PLC. She was a recipient of an award at the 2017 Top50 Professional and Career Women’s Awards hosted by Women in Management, Sri Lanka. In 2018, she was also recognized as being one of the ‘Top 100 Global HR Minds.’ She is a working mother who has struck a perfect work-life balance. She is charming and is an absolute people’s person. She is diplomatic, generous and loyal, with a magnetic personality. Her colleagues describe her as a ‘power woman with a million-dollar smile.’

She Can, and she is an accomplished Human Resources leader who has helped organizations build an ethical ecosystem and culture, developed teams and enhanced Shareholder value through HR interventions; Dilrukshi Kurukulasuriya.

What are the most important attributes of successful leaders today? There can be many, but in my opinion a good leader must be competent and credible enough for others to follow. He or she should have good communication skills and have empathy too.

Share with us a summary of your corporate journey, from classroom to boardroom? I am not a main board Director of DIMO PLC, but I am a Director of a few subsidiaries. In school, I was a very enthusiastic student and an orator who was heavily involved in drama which made me stay on stage throughout the year. I was also involved in team sports doing whatever I could to get our “House” to lead. I consider myself as an all-rounder and was literally a part of everything in school and ended up as the Head Prefect. After Law College, I started my career as a Counsel for a short period, and as a Legal Officer thereafter. Shortly afterwards, I realised that I was not happy with what I was doing, as I wanted to have an insight in to the total operation of a business. Hence, I decided to switch fields and moved on to Human Resources Management. I believed that I could influence people’s lives positively.

Share with us a summary of your personal journey. I am the eldest of five siblings, whom I believe I’ve influenced in many ways to shape their lives. I was kind of in-charge of home affairs after completing my school education for a considerable period when my parents were away. This experience helped me to bring up my only daughter Chenuli, effortlessly. My husband used to work for a foreign bank but retired early to be self-employed which gave me more space to be involved in my work, and provided a good support system to attend to my daughter’s work.

How did you move forward when everyone kept telling you that your suggestions or ideas won’t work? Would you believe that, I was never bothered? I do whatever I can do on my own to make things work if my suggestions are rejected. But I have seen my suggestions coming back in some form or in different forms, even after several years, via other people. That is the moment of truth for me.

Do you ever think am I crazy? Of course, yes, sometimes I think I am crazy several times a day. I am let down by the same people that I try to help, but I try to help them again without them knowing. At times, I fight with others on their behalf while they keep hating me.

How do you differentiate yourself? I differentiate myself with my attitude towards life, my courage to face the absolute truth and my ability to laugh at myself.

What is your why? My why is to be able to fulfill my duties towards my family, my organization, and my friends, and to find personal happiness.

Who do you look up to for inspiration? Sometimes my mother and at times my daughter.

Your biggest Regret? Trusting certain individuals, I’ve encountered in a professional capacity.

What is your biggest fear and how do you manage it? My biggest fear is creating misunderstandings between people who matter to me. I hate people misjudging me. I try to be transparent as possible. My life is an open book.

How do you keep your team motivated despite conflicts and obstacles? I try to keep our purpose alive as that unites everyone. The suggestions that I make, I allow my team to own it. I always call spade a spade, and I don’t tolerate internal politics.

What has been the highlight of the career so far? I started my career a bit late, hence it was significant for me to become the General Manager Human Resources within eight years. Becoming subsidiary Director, winning the award for being one of the ‘Top 100 Global HR Minds’ and winning an award at the Top50 Professional and Career Women’s Awards, have all been career highlights for me.

What do you want to achieve next? I want to help my daughter achieve her goals, whilst simultaneously also achieving my next personal goals.

If you could go back and tell yourself one thing before beginning your career, what would it be? You cannot turn your biological clock back, so do the right things at the right time.

What was the biggest rookie mistake you made when just starting out? Advising management to execute a court order without assessing the damage that it would cause to the defendant and the family, during early days of my career.

Have you been harassed or discriminated against? I think we women are all harassed knowingly or unknowingly every day. We tend to be judged unfairly, and we are constantly required to be perfect. We would never be noticed if we didn’t think a lot smarter and work a lot harder than our male colleagues.

Where do you see yourself ten years from now? Hopefully, a grandmother still working towards achieving gender equality and women empowerment in the workplace and in society.

Share with us a secret no one else knows? Not entirely a secret but few know my interest in mixology.

What is the best and the worst decision you’ve ever made? The best decision is wanting to be an independent woman since childhood. Worst decision is not having another sibling for my daughter.

What woman inspires you and why? Indra Nooyi is a woman of our times, she inspires me a lot due to her achievements, her courage and for being so real. Her perspective towards life, work and relationships, all seems so realistic.

How do you want to be remembered one day? I want to be remembered as a kind-hearted, loyal, ethical professional.

How has Covid19 effected your work? Well, we’ve adapted to new ways of working. However, this year has slowed us down in many ways except for embracing new technology.