The NHRC 2016 will feature many international and local speakers who are experts in the field of HR and business as they share their thoughts and insights on the wide range of topics as related to the conference theme.
“The theme of the Conference is timely, opportune and relevant to the current phase of economic growth and development on a national scale.
As Sri Lanka embarks upon a journey amidst indications of a global slowdown, enhancing competitiveness would be the key to growth and survival” said Rohitha Amarapala-President IPM Sri Lanka.
“The competitiveness of Sri Lanka as a country would depend on the competitiveness of each individual entity.
All organizations rely heavily on its human capital to set course and steer it through the many challenges to achieve its goals and objectives.
As the thought-leader in HRM, we are excited that the National HR Conference 2016:
HR Ecosystem for Competitiveness will evoke many ideas and thoughts on these various interdependencies while creating a platform for discussion and debate amongst HR and business professionals relating to the need to consider competitiveness from a perspective of an HR Ecosystem” he added.
The theme of the Conference has been derived by considering some important factors that are relevant to all organizations and to the Nation as a whole in the context of today’s competitive business environment.
These factors are:
• Competitiveness of firms at industry level do contribute towards the competitiveness of the nation. Hence, boosting competitiveness at firm level is vital
• Any firm is driven by its Human Resources, and as such the capabilities of these invaluable Resources do matter to the competitiveness of firms
• Building of capabilities among HR is a result of emergent behavior of an HR ecosystem in the country. Agents in an HR ecosystem will interact, co-operate, compete and contribute towards the emergent HR framework in the nation that will enhance the competitiveness of firms
• Competitiveness of firms contribute towards the competitiveness of the nation in the international arena
IPM’s effort of developing the deliverables at the Conference was looked at through the complexities of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), a measurement published annually by the World Economic Forum.
Careful analysis of the 12 pillars of the GCI from an HR eco-system perspective provided five broad areas that are vital to enhance the competitiveness of firms as well as the nation, which are equally applicable to private sector firms as well as public sector organizations.
Five broad topics have been identified to be delivered at the NHRC 2016.
They are Creativity in Organizations, Competitiveness, Governance and Ethical Leadership, Technology and People, and Public Sector HR.
Creativity and innovation will work as a competitive advantage in every aspect of an organization.
At this year’s conference, experts from the industry have been invited to establish the need for creativity at the organizational level and creativity at the individual level.
A prominent effort that this conference is focused on is to bring in the innovation knowledge and processes of those firms whose business is innovation.
Designing the thinking process as a business strategy will be discussed as a key value addition to the HR ecosystem to enhance competitiveness.
Expert speakers such as Rick Kantor a Creative Consultant, Catalyst and Speaker from USA will enlighten the conference audience on “Leading in an upside down world - rationale for creativity”, Rama Brahmam Aleti - Co-Founder, Director - Experience Design Think Design Collaborative Pvt. Ltd, India will enlighten the audience on “Design Thinking - A Strategic Approach for Innovation”, and Goh Ai Yat - former Senior Banker, Joint Managing Consultant of SBF Group of Consulting companies, Singapore will enlighten the audience on “Harnessing your Everyday Creativity”.
Eminent personalities have been invited to share their experience in empowering leadership and establishing employee branding as a competitive tool for any firm.
While Dian Gomes – Chairman, Hela Clothing and Gauthan Chainani of Ultratech Cement - Aditya Birla Group will share their experiences on this topic, Prof. T.V.Rao will share the latest theoretical basis for “The Three Box Theory: New Perspective for Performance Management”.
The biggest competitive advantage for a firm is to obtain social licensing to carry out its business.
The only way to gain such social licensing is the Governance and ethical leadership practice.
HR professionals being in the forefront of private sector people management activities will have a wider role and opportunity to establish and maintain good governance and ethical leadership.
William (Bill) J. O’Rourke - former Alcoa Vice President, Fellow of the Wheatley Institute - Brigham Young University, John Carroll University Board Member from USA will be addressing the audience on “Sustainable Business Growth through Ethical Leadership”.
Technology has made a considerable impact on the lives of people.
Social media has invaded the work life as well as the private lives of people.
No firm will be capable of staying away from technology, if they wish to be competitive. While it is vital to understand what technology will hold for people, technology should work for people not the other way around.
Whether this objective is achieved to its true potential is a question.
Deliberating on the intercept of HR and technology, Brian Kealey-Managing Director, Microsoft Sri Lanka & Maldives will address the audience on “Emerging digital universe-a game changer for businesses” and Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri-Director and Chairman of the Board of Management of the Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura will address the audience on “Landscape of HR in Light of Technological Change”.
The Conference will also focus on Public Sector HR as it plays a major role in the development and competitiveness of public sector organizations.
However, there are very few cases that public sector has moved away from the conventional practices of management.
Still, there are prominent case studies available of entities that have made progress.
At the same time, there are countries in the region in which the public sector HR has matured.
Dr. Suresh Marcandan - President/Director, PT People Power International, Singapore will shed light on “How HR changed a nation - Singapore case study the second competitive nation of the world” with Nihal Ranasinghe - Controller General of Immigration & Emigration Sri Lanka and B. Wijayarathne-Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture will share their experience on “Practical experience of changing people for organizational effectiveness”.
“It is imperative that all leaders look at competitiveness from an ecosystem perspective rather than from a single pillar perspective.
We are confident that the attendees at this year’s Conference will have a lot to learn from the distinguished speakers.
We would like to invite all HR as well as business professionals to join this event and join the discussion in shaping Sri Lanka’s future from a human resources management perspective” said Aruna Dayanatha - Chairman, Organizing Committee, NHRC 2016.
The NHRC 2016 will compile a mantra for competitiveness based on Empowering the Business Leaders, Building the employee brand and Manage performance, Technology to support people, and Innovation in all areas of business so the organizations are in a position to earn a competitive advantage in the respective industry.