A trend setting workshop - Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

“‘Sexual harassment in the workplace’ is an untapped but essential area to be covered specially in the Asian part of the world”, says the founder of Epitom Consulting Mr. T. Ragulan.
Ragulan, also notifies that this sensitive issue will be taken up by Dr. Arosha S. Adikaram, a senior lecturer in Human Resources Management at the Faculty of Management and Finance, University of Colombo on 27th of July 2011 at Galle Face Hotel from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm.
Dr. Adikaram has continuously and actively contributed to the cause of eliminating sexual harassment from workplaces during the past 10 years through numerous research, workshops and awareness programs, as well as through local and international publications on the subject.
One of her papers, ‘Sexual harassment among women in the banking sector of Sri Lanka’ received the ‘Best Paper Award’ at the International Conference on Business and Information (BAI) held in Singapore in 2006. 
Dr. Adikaram was also honored as one of the ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons’ (TOYP) of the year 2010 for her academic accomplishment and leadership by Junior Chamber International (JCI) Sri Lanka, and was awarded the ‘Pride of HR Profession’ award, by the World HRD Congress in India, for her contribution to the field of human resources management.
Dr. Adikaram has a number of publications to her credit, including the books  titled ‘Is Sexual Harassment a Problem in Sri Lankan Workplaces’ (publishers: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Sri Lanka Foundation) and ‘Labor Law and Relations: a Human Resource Management Approach’ (publisher: Stamford Lake Publications).
Dr. Adikaram, pointing out the importance of raising awareness about the issue of sexual harassment at workplaces in the Sri Lankan working community says that more than 50% of working women and about 7% of working men are subject to sexual harassment at workplace around the world. She further says that “Having been involved in research and teaching on ‘sexual harassment at workplaces’ for the last decade, I have been appalled to realize how grave and prevalent this phenomenon is among Sri Lankan working females, and how almost all of these instances go unaddressed and unnoted. Unlike many other countries around the world, in Sri Lanka the issue of sexual harassment is not taken seriously, and not addressed properly. It is not even considered by many as a topic worthy of discussion”.
“Unless companies realize the importance of eradicating sexual harassment from workplaces and also deal with instances of sexual harassment effectively, there is very little the victims can do. The first step in combating sexual harassment and avoiding the many negative consequences of sexual harassment, is by raising awareness about the issue among the working community and encouraging companies to develop effective policies and procedures to deal with the issue” Dr Adikaram adds.
Epitom Consulting, a promising business consultancy firm which is striving to serve the knowledge base of Sri Lanka has initiated to talk openly about this untouched and sensitive topic. This aspect of work life plays hidden but massive role in deciding the performance of the employees, an organization’s reputation, a country’s image about its corporate culture. The workshop is scheduled to take place on 27th of July 2011 at Galle Face Hotel from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm.
Ragulan ensures that the workshop would help the participants to identify what sexual harassment at workplace means, explain the importance of eradicating sexual harassment from workplaces, identify what organizations should do in preventing and handling sexual harassment instances, and identify what victims of sexual harassment should do in dealing with their experiences.

Article from http://www.AdaDerana.lk

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Workshop on How to Conduct a Disciplinary Inquiry......

Maliban employees recognized for their commitment


Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Ltd recently held an event at House of Maliban premises the Ratmalana in order to recognize the value and appreciate the services of their staff. This was a show of gratitude by the management towards the employees for their continued commitment and dedication, one of the many factors that enabled the company to win the National Quality Award. The employees were given the opportunity to socialize, relax and enjoy the lineup of entertainment that was organized on their behalf.


The programme for the day consisted of several speeches, including a speech by A. G. R. Samaraweera, Chairman of Maliban Group, cultural events to entertain the employees and the launch of a Maliban Song, which was composed recently. Performances during the day were by the Police Cultural Group, students of the Aesthetics Faculty of the Colombo University, renowned local musician, Victor Rathnayake and his sons Jayantha and Dilum Rathnayake. Incidentally, the Maliban song, which was sung at the event, was composed by Geethanath Kudaligama and performed by Victor Rathnayake. The event also saw employees being presented with tokens of appreciation by the chairman of Maliban. About 1,525 employees attended the occasion.
Among them was Mrs. A. K. C Ranaweera, who said that the management of the company has always extended the highest level of support to the employees by providing them with the knowledge required to carry out their duties methodically.
She added that she was touched by the event that had been organized especially for them and wanted to thank the Chairman of Maliban for extending his assistance at every possible occasion. K. H. Jagath said that there is a link between the Chairman of Maliban and every employee, which is the secret of the company's success. He stressed that it is the employees' love for their work that has sustained the company and as a result Maliban was able to win the National Quality Award.
Human Resources play a vital role in achieving corporate objectives. Therefore it is a major responsibility and a requirement to ensure the wellbeing of employees in the organization. With Maliban Biscuit Manufactories (Pvt) Ltd receiving the National Quality Award for the second time the focus falls upon employees who have contributed towards this accomplishment.
"There are 1525 employees from different categories who contributed towards attaining the National Quality Award and at the outset I take this opportunity to express my pleasure and heartfelt thanks for their commitment and cooperation," said Mr Bandula Perera, Group General Manager - HR/Admin, Maliban. He added, "I am very much delighted to announce that the employees' contribution towards achieving the National Quality Award has been recognized by the Chairman and Board of Directors".
Maliban's employee base includes staff members, who are well experienced in their field of work, as well as newcomers. The company believes the wealth of experienced employees provides the motivation for the new employees to perform their duties at the required standards and contribute towards the progress of Maliban.
Maliban is known to be synonymous with quality and the company considers "Quality as it's religion" and this has been communicated to each an every member of the company who has contributed to maintaining the standard of work.
The employees are the driving force of the company. Therefore, managing and developing human resources is a vital aspect of Maliban. With that focus the company's human resources department frequently directs the employees to improve their knowledge and skills. Thus, the Chairman and the Board of Directors of Maliban duly recognize the employees' contribution towards the company's growth and believe that the National Quality Award was made possible with their support and contribution.

Article from http://sundaytimes.lk 

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The Top 7 Employee Incentive Gifts Categories

Many companies mistakenly assume that pay and benefits will improve business results.   Unfortunately this is not the case because comparable pay and benefits are typically treated by employees as “entitlements”.    Since most employees view them as such it is difficult, if not impossible, to increase business performance using pay and benefits. It takes a more focused effort to provide that little something extra to get employees to stretch their performance.

In order to reach a higher level of employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity, it is best to find methods to say “thank you” in special ways. That’s where employee incentives come in.
There a number of different incentive plans to choose from and before designing your incentive program, you should seek input from you workforce about what things they value most.   In some plans rewards are totally individually based and others have a team perspective.  Others have a combination of both reward types.
Every company culture is a little different but we have found the following 7 employee incentive gifts categories to be the most prevalent across many industries.
1. Gift certificates/gift cards
2. Electronic items
a. Cameras and accessories
b. Computers, software, and accessories
c. Home entertainment
d. Telephone related including cell phones
3. Trophies and Plaques
4. Watches and Clocks
5. Apparel including accessories
6. Food and beverage
7. Home/Garden/Garage and accessories

Although it is not exclusive, this list should give you some ideas about possible employee incentive gifts. There are lots of third-party incentive companies that can assist you in designing and administrating an incentive program. Don’t worry, there are plans to fit every size company budget.
If you want to increase employee productivity, increase retention, and motivate your employees to reach the next level, then implementing a company incentive program is a great first step.

Article from : http://employeerecognitionideas.net 

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Hayleys HR Head presented Lifetime Gold Award for contribution to profession


Head of Group Human Resources of the Hayleys Group Sunil Dissanayake has been honoured with a Lifetime Gold award for his contribution to the Human Resources (HR) profession.

The award was presented by the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) at the National HR Excellence Awards 2011 on Tuesday 28 June 2011 at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo.

Over two decades of Dissanayake’s illustrious professional life have been in the field of human resources development and management, and have encompassed training, advisory, consultancy and senior management roles in leading companies in Sri Lanka and overseas.


A Graduate in Hotel Management and an Honorary Member of the Institute of Personnel Management, Dissanayake who hails from Baddegama in the Galle District, joined the Hayleys Group in July 2007 and was appointed to the Group Management Committee in the same month. He is also a non Executive Director of Hotel Services (Ceylon) PLC, the owning company of the Ceylon Continental Hotel and Director of Hayleys Group Services (Pvt) Ltd.


Prior to joining Hayleys, he held several senior management positions in large private sector entities in Sri Lanka and overseas in human resources management and in hotel management. Over the past 20 years, Dissanayake has served as Head of HR (Gulf) for Citibank NA (based in UAE), Director of Human Resources at Carson Cumberbatch, Head of HR at SriLankan Airlines and Vice President HR and Learning & Development at HSBC Global Resourcing.


Among the many achievements to his credit are the establishment of Group HR Divisions for Hayleys and Carson Cumberbatch; setting up and operating a Learning & Development Department for Citibank (Gulf), development and implementation of a successful voluntary retirement scheme which included offering retraining opportunities for over 1,000 employees of SriLankan Airlines in the aftermath of the terror attack of 2001 and facilitating optional employment in other organisations; facilitating the introduction of a pioneering policy against sexual harassment at the workplace  at the national carrier in 2005 and the introduction of ‘toast mastering’ at SriLankan Airlines in 2001. Under Dissanayake’s leadership, SriLankan became the Overall Runner-up at the first National HR Awards.

He also pioneered the launch of the ‘HR Ball’ for the HR community in Sri Lanka in 2002. The event is now held on an annual basis.


Dissanayake has also been called upon to accept many significant honorary and advisory positions in the sphere of HR and in the hotel industry. He has been President of the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association and a Member of the Hotel Classification Committee of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.


He is at present a member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Steering Committee for Human Resources and Education and is also a Steering Committee Member of the Lanka Business Coalition (LBCH) for the prevention of AIDS.

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