The HR team of John Keells Holdings with three of the awards won.

The John Keells Group, the largest listed conglomerate in Sri Lanka, bagged a sizable quarter of the awards at the HRM Awards 2007 – Super 10, held at a gala awards dinner recentlyat the Cinnamon Grand. The awards tally was five – 1 gold and 4 silver – of the available 19 awards (10 gold and 9 silver). The winners, comprising subsidiaries and associates of John Keells Holdings PLC, were as follows:

Under the theme ‘Celebrating the people factor in business growth’, the candidates were evaluated on a number of criteria, including organisational leadership and best HR management practices. The panel of judges comprised Professor Gunapala Nanayakkara, Managing Director – Postgraduate Institute of Management International Centre, Emirates; Dr. Santrupt B. Misra, Director – Aditya Birla Group; Dr. Norman Maharaj, Commissioner – Public Service Commission, South Africa; John Lavelle, Senior Advisor – HR Strategy, World Bank; Aruna Fernando, President – CIMA Sri Lanka; Ravi Peiris, Director-General/CEO – The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon; and Mr. Ramkumar, Global Head of HR – ICICI Bank.

The awards were open to all organisations (of both the public and private sector) with a minimum of 50 employees and at least one HRM specialist that have been operational in the past five years and are located in Sri Lanka. Many companies, ranging from financial services, hotel and hospitality, IT, garment manufacture, pharmaceutical, trade and industry, vied for selection to be amongst the Super 10.

"We are delighted at receiving the awards", said Susantha Ratnayake, Chairman – John Keells Holdings PLC. "To us, they are recognition, not of the John Keells Group alone – the awards are also recognition of the people who make up the Group, who make it come alive in so many ways."

Commenting on the outstanding performance of the John Keells Group, President – HR and Legal, John Keells Holdings, Dilani Alagaratnam said, "At John Keells, our team is our driving force. From facing new challenges to organising a sports event; from meeting high business targets to volunteering in social responsibility activities; our employees are constantly on the move, raising the bar, challenging themselves, making the Group what it is today. We work towards making the John Keells Group ‘more than just a workplace’, and these awards confirm that our efforts have not been in vain. Awards such as these help us to benchmark what we do as part of HR best practices, to learn from each other and better our approach."