
Great Place to Work® Conference 2020
Thriving on Chaos - The Culture Factor
When
13th of January 2021
8.00am Onwards
Where
Hybrid
(Hilton Colombo and Web)
The WORLD has suffered a major setback driving BUSINESS into a time warp and impacting its PEOPLE in an unprecedented manner.
However, Independent research has shown that while Great Workplaces are not immune to market shocks, they recover rapidly due to their resilient and robust culture of trust. The time has come to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes and rediscover, reinvent and regain lost glory.
To learn through insights, thought leadership and case studies;
Join us as we open the doors to discover new beginnings, new ways of working in the New Normal.
Connect
With more than 250+ participants from 100+ organizations in attendance, you’ll gather practical insights on how to reach greatness by tapping into your employees’ fullest potential.
Learn
From Great Place to Work® experts and catalysts from national & global Best Workplaces and learn first-hand how these award-winning organizations create and champion high-trust cultures.
Inspire
With a stellar line-up of Founders, CEOs, and Senior Leadership, be inspired and challenged to raise the bar at your own workplace through practical lessons from leaders who know what it takes to create and sustain a great workplace.
Lead
Whether you are just beginning to cultivate your high-trust culture or looking for further inspiration to elevate your workplace, the 10 knowledge sharing sessions giving insights from 16 eminent though leaders to champion the cause of “Making Sri Lanka a Great Place to Work”!
Speakers

Indranil Chakraborty
Founder
StoryWorks

Chamila Bandara
Director/ CEO
Mountain Hawk Express

Thushara Ranasinghe
MD / CEO
Ceylinco Life Insurance

Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson
Deputy Group CEO
Hemas Holdings

Iftikar Ahamed
Managing Director
Softlogic Life Insurance

Arjuna Herath
Senior Partner
Ernst & Young

Manesh Fernando
Area GM - Hilton Hotels Sri Lanka and GM - Hilton Colombo
Hilton

Dimithri Perera
Country Manager
DHL (Keells)

Siddarth Iyer
Country Manager
Maersk Lanka

Dr. Michael Burchell
CEO
Great Place to Work® Middle East

Lahari de Alwis
Project Manager - Consulting Service
Great Place to Work® Sri Lanka

Isuru Gunasekara
Executive Vice President / CPO & Head of Sustainability, ERM & Group Initiatives
John Keells Holdings

Dilrukshi Kurukulasuriya
Chief Human Resources Officer
Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC

Ishan Dantanarayana
Chief People Officer
Brandix Group

Chandi Dharmaratne
Vice President HR | Responsible for, ‘New Norms’ and Intelligent Automation Implementation in HR Globally
Virtusa

Aruni Goonetileke
Director
Sunshine Holdings, Soflogic Finance and Tea Small Holder Factories PLC

Shanta Rajapaksha Yapa
Chief Commercial Officer
Avonet Technologies/ Author

Pulasthika Wirasinha
Head of Human Resources
London Stock Exchange Group

Sandra De Zoysa
Group Chief Customer Officer
Dialog Axiata

Anura De Alwis
Chief Executive Officer
Pyxle
Agenda
Great Place to Work® CXO Forum
-
Registration & Breakfast 7.30 am
-
Opening Remarks 8.00 am
By Kshanika Ratnayaka-CEO of Great Place to Work- Sri Lanka
-
Story-Powered Strategy: A Compelling Way to Drive Change in the Organization 8.15 am
Thought Leadership - Understand how to use stories to embed expected behavior changes in order to ensure strategies work
By Indranil Chakraborty- Founder of StoryWorks -
Leading through Chaos 8.50 am
Panel Discussion – CEOs of Mountain Hawk Express and Ceylinco Life Insurance discuss their experience and learnings in leading through the Covid-19 Crisis.
Chamila Bandara-Director/ CEO of Mountain Hawk Express - Licensee of Federal Express
Thushara Ranasinghe- MD/CEO of Ceylinco Life Insuranc
Moderated by Aruni Goonetileke- Director of Sunshine Holdings, Soflogic Finance and Tea Small Holder Factories PLC -
Rising in Crisis 9.25 am
Strategic Insight- Through a thematic analysis, the writer identifies six common areas focused by the COVID 19 Task Force of Sri Lanka in their world class battle against the deadly pandemic. Born in a crisis, this framework named R Hexagon is a robust tool that can test your strategies before they are implemented.
By Shanta Rajapaksha Yapa- Chief Commercial Officer of Avonet Technologies/ Author -
Closing Remarks 9.45 am
Great Place to Work® Conference 2020 –
Thriving on Chaos - The Culture Factor
-
Refreshments & Registration 9.00 am
-
Opening Remarks 10.00 am
By Kshanika Ratnayaka-CEO of Great Place to Work- Sri Lanka
-
Rise like a Phoenix from the Ashes 10.10 am
Keynote Address – Thoughts on how we, as a business community, rise from this crisis as a better version of ourselves to the betterment of our country.By Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson-Deputy Group CEO of HEMAS PLC
-
Stories At Work : The Secret Sauce to Inspirational Leadership 10.30 am
Thought Leadership - Learn how to bring the power of stories into day-to-day business communication and increase the ability to connect, engage and inspire.By Indranil Chakraborty-Founder of StoryWorks
-
A Globally Resilient Culture at Work 11.30 am
Panel Discussion – 4 CXOs discuss the advantages and disadvantages of being part of a global network in responding to crisis, sharing their inward and outward learning. Manesh Fernando - Area GM- Hilton Hotels Sri Lanka and GM- Hilton Colombo of Hilton Dimithri Perera - Country Manager of DHL (Keells) Siddarth Iyer - Country Manager - Sri Lanka & Maldives of Maersk Moderated by Pulasthika Wirasinha - Head of Human Resources of London Stock Exchange Group
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Lunch 12.30 pm
-
Great Place to Work FOR ALL™- The Need of the Hour 1.45 pm
Knowledge Sharing/ Insights – Presentation of insights from analysis of Sri Lankan Workplaces over the last 8 years, and the expansion of the Great Place to Work Model to a more robust and inclusive one. Dr. Michael Burchell - CEO of Great Place to Work- Middle East & Lahari de Alwis- Project Manager of Great Place to Work Sri Lanka
-
Industry Disruption through Agility and Innovation 2.15 pm
Case Study – Hear the story of Softlogic Life Insurance and their Journey to becoming a Great Workplace and what that meant in their response to the current crisis.By Iftikar Ahamed-Managing Director of Softlogic Life Insurance
-
Rebound: Rebuild: Reignite 2.45 pm
Isuru Gunasekera - EVP / CPO & Head of Sustainability, ERM & Group Sourcing of John Keells Group Dilrukshi Kurukulasuriya- Chief Human Resources Officer of Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC Ishan Dantanarayana - Chief People Officer of Brandix Group Sandra De Zoysa- Group Chief Customer Officer of Dialog Axiata Moderated by Anura De Alwis- CEO of Pyxle
-
The Key to Building a Resilient Organization-Acquiring the Right Talent 3.45 pm
Thought Leadership – Research-based ideas on key attributes of people and the investment required to ensure more resilient and agile workplaces.By Chandi H Dharmaratne-Vice President HR | Responsible for, ‘New Norms’ and Intelligent Automation Implementation in HR Globally of Virtusa
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Closing Remarks 4.30 pm
-
Refreshments & Registration 8.00 am
-
Opening Remarks 9.00 am
By Kshanika Ratnayaka-CEO of Great Place to Work- Sri Lanka
-
Rise like a Phoenix from the Ashes 9.10 am
Keynote Address – Thoughts on how we, as a business community, rise from this crisis as a better version of ourselves to the betterment of our country.
By Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson-Deputy Group CEO of HEMAS PLC -
Stories at Work: The Secret Sauce to Inspirational Leadership 9.40 am
Thought Leadership - Learn how to bring the power of stories into day-to-day business communication and increase the ability to connect, engage and inspire.
By Indranil Chakraborty-Founder of StoryWorks -
A Globally Resilient Culture at Work 10.30 am
Panel Discussion – 4 CXOs discuss the advantages and disadvantages of being part of a global network in responding to crisis, sharing their inward and outward learning.
Arjuna Herath-Senior Partner of Ernst & Young
Manesh Fernando- Area GM- Hilton Hotels Sri Lanka and GM- Hilton Colombo of Hilton
Dimithri Perera- Country Manager of DHL (Keells)
Siddarth Iyer- Country Manager - Sri Lanka & Maldives of Maersk
Moderated by Pulasthika Wirasinha- Head of Human Resources of London Stock Exchange Group -
Industry Disruption through Agility and Innovation 11.40 am
Case Study – Hear the story of Softlogic Life Insurance and their Journey to becoming a Great Workplace and what that meant in their response to the current crisis.
By Iftikar Ahamed-Managing Director of Softlogic Life Insurance -
Lunch 12.30 pm
-
Great Place to Work FOR ALL™- The Need of the Hour 1.45 pm
Knowledge Sharing/ Insights – Presentation of insights from analysis of Sri Lankan Workplaces over the last 8 years, and the expansion of the Great Place to Work Model to a more robust and inclusive one.
Dr. Michael Burchell- CEO of Great Place to Work- Middle East
Lahari de Alwis- Project Manager of Great Place to Work Sri Lanka -
The Key to Building a Resilient Organization-Acquiring the Right Talent 2.30 pm
Thought Leadership – Research-based ideas on key attributes of people and the investment required to ensure more resilient and agile workplaces.
By Chandi H Dharmaratne-Vice President HR | Responsible for, ‘New Norms’ and Intelligent Automation Implementation in HR Globally of Virtusa -
Rebound: Rebuild: Reignite 3.20 pm
Panel Discussion – 4 CXOs of leading workplaces in Sri Lanka share their experience of their response to the crisis and how they will use those learnings to build up in a more robust and inspiring way for the future.
Isuru Gunasekera - EVP / CPO & Head of Sustainability, ERM & Group Sourcing of John Keells Group
Dilrukshi Kurukulasuriya- Chief Human Resources Officer of Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC
Ishan Dantanarayana-Chief People Officer of Brandix Group
Sandra De Zoysa- Group Chief Customer Officer of Dialog Axiata
Moderated by Anura De Alwis- CEO of Pyxle -
Closing Remarks 4.20 pm
Download Presentations - CXO Forum

Dr. Sumit Mitra
How business leaders can become future

Presenjit Bhattacharya
CEO's Culture Dashboard

Nikhil Advani
Health and wellness in the workplace

Parul Thakuria
Innovative Solutions that drive employee experiences
Download Presentations - Conference

Dr. Sumit Mitra
Creating a culture that inspires people to strive for excellence

Sanjeeva & Chamila
Workplace culture matters - Journey of Mountain Hawk Express

Akshay Yadhav
Reimagining human experience with technology

Prof. Rick Smith
High trust high performance culture
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Register to reserve your seat for Great Place to Work® Conference 2019
Investment
CXO Breakfast Forum Only: LKR 6,500 + taxes
Conference 2019 Only: LKR 16,500 + taxes
Both Events: LKR 20,000 + taxes
Case Studies
Thought Leadership
Best Practices
Registration & Breakfast
7.30 am
Opening Remarks
8.30 am
THE ART OF LEADERSHIP – NURTURING PROFESSIONALS TO BE EFFECTIVE LEADERS
9.50 am – 10.30 am
Ronnie Peiris,
CASE STUDY: DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES TO ACHIEVE THEIR REAL POTENTIAL
10.35 am – 11.05 am
Asoka Pieris, Group CEO, Singer Sri Lanka
CORPORATE VITALITY – IMPROVING EMPLOYEE WELLNESS
11.25 am – 11.55 am
Dr. Myralini S. Thesan, Medical Director, AIA Group
TRUST IMPACT – MEASURING TRUST “ON -DEMAND”
11.55 am – 12.15 pm
Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Director, Great Place to Work® Institute Sri Lanka
CASE STUDY: FROM LEGACY TO REAL-TIME – THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AT MAHINDRA GROUP
12.20 pm – 01.05 pm
Jaspreet Bindra
LEARNIMON – FOSTERING BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE THROUGH ON-DEMAND LEARNING
02.05 pm – 02.45 pm
Rukmal De Silva, Chief Visionary Officer, 361 Degrees
INSIGHTS: KEY DIFFERENTIATORS OF BEST WORKPLACES IN SRI LANKA
02.45 pm – 03.15 pm
Ruwani Alwishewa, Assessment Manager, Great Place to Work® Institute Sri Lanka
CASE STUDY: TRUST FUELS PERFORMANCE: “THE JOURNEY”
03.35 pm – 04.05 pm
Suresh Muttiah, GM HR, Union Assurance PLC
PANEL DISCUSSION: MANAGING YOUR WORKFORCE IN THE NEW AGE
04.05 pm – 04.55 pm
(Moderated by) Aroshi Nanayakkara, CEO, Global Consulting Company
Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson – Managing Director, Hemas Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, Hemas Surgical and Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, Hemas Logistics and Maritime Cluster
Sumeet Verma – Director HR, Unilever
Vickum Senanayake – Group Chief Corporate Officer, EZY Corp
Thilak Piyadigama – Chief Operating Officer/Senior Executive Vice President at NTB
CLOSING REMARKS
04.55 pm – 05.00 pm
Kshanika Ratnayaka, CEO, Great Place to Work® Institute Sri Lanka
OPENING REMARKS
9.00 am – 9.10 am
Kshanika Ratnayaka, CEO, Great Place to Work® Institute Sri Lanka
HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT IN THE “ON-DEMAND ECONOMY”
9.10 am – 9.50 am
Rachna Sampayo, Senior Director, Human Resources, Oracle Inc
THE ART OF LEADERSHIP – NURTURING PROFESSIONALS TO BE EFFECTIVE LEADERS
9.50 am – 10.30 am
Ronnie Peiris,
CASE STUDY: DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES TO ACHIEVE THEIR REAL POTENTIAL
10.35 am – 11.05 am
Asoka Pieris, Group CEO, Singer Sri Lanka
CORPORATE VITALITY – IMPROVING EMPLOYEE WELLNESS
11.25 am – 11.55 am
Dr. Myralini S. Thesan, Medical Director, AIA Group
TRUST IMPACT – MEASURING TRUST “ON -DEMAND”
11.55 am – 12.15 pm
Prasenjit Bhattacharya, Director, Great Place to Work® Institute Sri Lanka
CASE STUDY: FROM LEGACY TO REAL-TIME – THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AT MAHINDRA GROUP
12.20 pm – 01.05 pm
Jaspreet Bindra
LEARNIMON – FOSTERING BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE THROUGH ON-DEMAND LEARNING
02.05 pm – 02.45 pm
Rukmal De Silva, Chief Visionary Officer, 361 Degrees
INSIGHTS: KEY DIFFERENTIATORS OF BEST WORKPLACES IN SRI LANKA
02.45 pm – 03.15 pm
Ruwani Alwishewa, Assessment Manager, Great Place to Work® Institute Sri Lanka
CASE STUDY: TRUST FUELS PERFORMANCE: “THE JOURNEY”
03.35 pm – 04.05 pm
Suresh Muttiah, GM HR, Union Assurance PLC
PANEL DISCUSSION: MANAGING YOUR WORKFORCE IN THE NEW AGE
04.05 pm – 04.55 pm
(Moderated by) Aroshi Nanayakkara, CEO, Global Consulting Company
Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson – Managing Director, Hemas Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, Hemas Surgical and Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, Hemas Logistics and Maritime Cluster
Sumeet Verma – Director HR, Unilever
Vickum Senanayake – Group Chief Corporate Officer, EZY Corp
Thilak Piyadigama – Chief Operating Officer/Senior Executive Vice President at NTB
CLOSING REMARKS
04.55 pm – 05.00 pm
Kshanika Ratnayaka, CEO, Great Place to Work® Institute Sri Lanka

Thilak Piyadigama
Chief Operating Officer/
Senior Executive Vice President
Nations Trust Bank

Vickum Senanayake
Group Chief Corporate Officer and
CEO of Enterprise Business
EZY Corporation Sri Lanka

Sumeet Verma
Director – Human Resources
and Corporate Relations
Unilever Sri Lanka

Kasturi Wilson
Managing Director
Hemas Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, Hemas Surgical and Diagnostics Pvt Ltd, Hemas Logistics and Maritime Cluster
Presentations from Conference 2018
Attendee Testimonials from past Conferences
Past Speakers
Bob Lee
Chandi Dharmaratne
Virtusa
Chiranthi Cooray
Hatton National Bank PLC
Dian Gomes
Hela Clothing
Dilani Alagaratnam
John Keells Group
Ishan Dantanarayana
Brandix Group
Dilrukshi N. K. Kurukulasuriya
DIMO
Mano Sekaram
99X Technology
Nitin Bawankule
Google India
Rajiv Jayaraman
KNOLSKAPE
Sarinda Unamboowe
MAS Kreeda
Sudhakar Rao
SAP India
Join us at the upcoming #GPTWConference2018 at the Grand Ballroom, Hilton Colombo to tap into the fullest potential of all your people.
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