Two eminent HR Personalities felicitated
The HRM Awards Night was significant to two eminent HR Personalities in the country who were bestowed with fellow membership status in appreciation and recognition of the contribution made by them to the Association and Country’s Human Resources Management function in general. Rohan Gerald Pandithakorralage and Lasantha Shrinath Salgado were felicitated with this honour by the President of the Association of HR Professionals.
Rohan Gerald Pandithakorralage is a much respected HRP stalwart who has contributed significantly to the Association from inception. He is a Founder Committee Member, a Past President of our Association and in 2010 was the Chairman of the Executive Committee of HRM Awards.
In the early days when HRP didn’t have an office or staff, he ensured that the handicap was never felt by the membership – This arrangement continued in to his Presidency and beyond and ceased only when HRP got its own Office. This support was the backbone of HRP and helped in no small way to achieve so much in a short time.
He is a rarity in today’s business world with values to be admired and an unshakable integrity. A true people’s person his success is due to hard work combined with his ability to motivate and inspire those around him.
HRP owes him much because it may not have survived but for him and the contribution he made and continues to make.
He is a Graduate in Business of the University of Victoria, Australia and has received management training from the prestigious NUS of Singapore, and the Nippon - Keidanren International Cooperation Center (NICC) in Japan.
He is a past President of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources - ( IPMA- HR) Sri Lanka Chapter and an Executive Committee Member of the IPMA-HR Asia Network.
At present, he is a member of the Board of Gover nors of National Institute of Labour Studies ( NILS), the National Labour Advisory Council ( NLAC) and the Council of the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC).
The Director/ Chief Human Resource Officer of Aitken Spence Group, he is also a Director of two of its subsidiaries and an International Nautical & Engineering College.
Lasantha Shrinath Salgado is considered as one of the most senior members of the Association. He was one of the Founder Vice Presidents of HRP.
He counts more than three decades in the profession of Human Resources. He has headed the HR Departments of two of Sri Lanka’s leading Blue Chip Companies. He has served in many capacities in the field of Human Resources. In addition, he has also held the Company Secretary position of a large Multinational in Sri Lanka. He is an Attorney- at- Law & Notary Public of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and is a Graduate in Law of the University of Colombo.
He has contributed in many ways to increase the stature of HRP. In the formative years he was the bridge between HRP and Academia. He was solely responsible for establishing the HRP/ Unive r s i t y o f Colombo partnership for career development and the introduction of the now hugely popular extension courses on soft skills and career development in the Science Faculty of the University of Colombo.
In the first ever HRM Awards in 2002, he served as the Chairman of the Technical Committee and also served as a member of the panel of judges National HRM Awards that year and in the following year too. He has been a live wire of the Association during the past 12 years, specifically contributing to technical aspects and guiding the association on matters of principles and ethics.