CIPM Graduation 2018 – Turning the Spotlight in Champions

• “Enriching lives and redefining careers, creating value for Sri Lanka and for the world” – CIPM Sri Lanka President Dhammika Fernando emphasizing the world-class nature of CIPM, its Business School and the global opportunities available for CIPM graduates in HR

CIPM Sri Lanka, the Nation’s leader in human resource management held its Annual Graduation Ceremony on 5^th of November at the BMICH in Colombo at which over 900 eager and enthusiastic HR professionals received their graduation certificates. This year’s graduation ceremony is by far the largest with 920 graduands in various streams and courses including National Diploma in Training & Human Resource Development (NDTHRD), Professional Qualification in Human Resource Management (PQHRM) and MSc. in HRM and Development offered by the CIPM Sri Lanka Business School receiving their graduation certificates. The first batch of students graduated at this graduation for the MSc. in HRM and Development offered in partnership with the University of Salford, UK.

The Chief Guest for the event was Prof. Nalaka Jayakody, Vice President – CINEC Campus. CIPM President Dhammika Fernando, Immediate Past President Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri, Vice President Sarath Jayasinghe, CIPM CEO P. G. Tennakoon, Hony. Secretary – Ken Vijayakumar, Chairperson CIPM Business School Committee Jayantha Amarasinghe, Consultant Academic Affairs Prof. Prasadini Gamage, Director Business School Mr. G. Weeratunga, Director Operations – Business School Gopinath Subramaniam, members of the Governing Council, Past Presidents, Fellow Members, CIPM Members, Resource Personnel, Invigilators, a large number of parents and well-wishers were present at this grand occasion.

Gracing this occasion, the Chief Guest mentioned: “I am pleased to attend the graduation ceremony of a highly recognized professional organization CIPM SL”.  He further mentioned, “I am sure that CIPM has produced a number of professionals who could add value to the organization they work for as well to the country.”

CIPM Sri Lanka President Dhammika Fernando delivering an inspirational welcome address said “You all have chosen a great career path as HR will play a pivotal role in this 4^th industrial revolution. HR will have to play a major strategic role in the workplace as the catalyst for change and it is more the reason why we need to produce more and more HR strategists in the future. As true pioneers, you will be able to be innovative and explore new opportunities”.

“As innovative organizations seek new opportunities and drive change in this disruptive 4^th industrial revolution, HR has a significant and critical role to play as the catalyst for this change. HR will rise up to this challenge and be a strategy maker to ensure that – people – the most critical resource in the organization are available, ready and motivated to chart the way forward” he added.

CIPM Sri Lanka is the only professional HR body to be incorporated by an Act of Parliament. It has a membership of over 1200 HR professionals who are attached to both the private as well as the public sector playing key roles in the development and growth of their organizations. CIPM is affiliated to the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM) and also to the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) thereby providing regional and global opportunities for its members for purposes of learning, collaborating, growth and development. CIPM, being a professional institute is also a constituent member of the Organization of Professional Associations [OPA] Sri Lanka.

The prestigious Jayantha Jayaratne Gold Medal for Excellence in Performance in the PQHRM qualification was awarded to Don Malika Madhushani who was the highest scorer at this year’s graduation.

HR is one of the most exciting and fast-growing management disciplines in the world, with disruption brought in by technology and changing lifestyles affecting the workplace as well as how and where people work. CIPM’s courses and programmes such as CIPM PQHRM has taken these developing changes into consideration and revamped the syllabus and course structure in order to provide maximum benefit and learning opportunities to the students. In fact, the CIPM PQHRM has been accredited by the APFHRM regionally accepted HR programme giving it a significant boost in terms of recognition. As the preferred learning partner for a lifelong career in HR, CIPM’s well-structured programmes provide students with many options for continuous learning, career growth, and professional development.

Overall IPM Great HR Quiz 2018 Champions Trophy presented by IPM President Dhammika Fernando to Dialog Axiata. From left: Chairman Member Services and Events Jayantha Abeyrathna, Past President Rohitha Amarapala and Quiz Master/Past President Chris Obeysekera are also present 

First Runner-up Seylan Bank

Second Runner-up Polytex Garments

IPM Sri Lanka’s The Great HR Quiz 2018, the only quiz dedicated to the human resource management fraternity to uplift the knowledge and capacity of human resource professionals, concluded on a high note with the team from Dialog Axiata winning the Overall IPM Great HR Quiz 2018 Champions Trophy, the team from Seylan Bank claiming the 1st Runner-up Trophy and the team from Polytex Garments winning the 2nd Runner-up Trophy.

The annual Great HR Quiz which was held for the fifth consecutive year is a much looked forward to event by the HR fraternity which is organised by IPM Sri Lanka – the nation’s leader in human resource management in its quest to building knowledge and capacity in the field of Human Resource Management and in developing globally competitive human resource professionals. The Great HR Quiz 2018 was held on Thursday 1 November at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo.

“The annual Great HR Quiz which is held for the fifth consecutive year is a much looked forward to event by the HR fraternity. As a service organisation and the premier professional body for HR in Sri Lanka, we have an obligation to support the HR professionals in the industry,” said IPM Sri Lanka President Dhammika Fernando.

“Amongst other objectives, the Great HR Quiz attempts to develop a broad platform for knowledge sharing amongst the key industry stakeholders. We are confident that our goals are coming closer in this regard,” he added.

Experienced HR professional, Fellow Member and Past President of IPM Sri Lanka Chris Obeysekera officiated as the Quiz Master while the expert panel of judges comprised of IPM professional members, industry experts and academics.

60 teams representing the public and private sector companies participated at this year’s Great HR Quiz which was organised as a ‘Live Table’ quiz with a unique digital response device placed on the table top for each team to respond to the quiz master’s questions. The knowledge areas that were tested in this quiz was broadly in the areas of human resource management, organisational behaviour, contemporary HRM and current affairs and sports. The teams vied for the overall IPM Great HR Quiz Champions Trophy, Runner-up Trophy, Sector Championship Trophies and many more. In addition to the trophies, the Champions received prize money of Rs. 100,000, 1st Runner up Rs. 75,000 and the 2nd Runner-up Rs. 50,000 respectively. The Sector winners too were awarded trophies.

As per tradition, The Great HR Quiz 2018 included an array of exciting activities including presentation of awards to the winners. The Great HR Quiz 2018 was followed by an evening of cocktails, networking and camaraderie amongst the HR fraternity.  IPM was founded in 1959 and was subsequently incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1976. IPM is affiliated to the Asia Pacific Foundation of Human Resources Management and also to the World Federation of People Management Association. IPM, being a professional institute is also a constituent member of the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) Sri Lanka. Currently IPM comprises of over 1,200 Professional Members who serve in both public and private organisations.

Winner of the Jayantha Jayaratna Gold Medal for Excellence in Performance in PQHRM D. M. D. D. N. Dissanayake receiving his award from Vice Chancellor, University of Moratuwa – Prof. Ananda Jayawardane.