Cargills Food City recognised for HRM practices at Lak Rakiya Harasara National Award Ceremony

Cargills was awarded an Excellence Silver Award in the Service Sector for the Polonnaruwa District recently, at the Lak Rakiya Harasara National Award Ceremony, instituted to recognise employers who generate employment that visibly uplifts standards of living. 

Sri Lanka’s largest supermarket retail chain, Cargills Food City created employment for Polonnaruwa District’s youth for its newly-inaugurated outlet in the area. The recruitment was carried out with the support of Department of Manpower and Employment (DOME) with whom Cargills has been working closely since 2010 to employ locally.

Emerging the sole winner from Polonnaruwa in the Service Sector, Cargills was stringently evaluated across Agriculture, Manufacturing, Services and Self-Employment sectors by an independent panel of judges. Some of the selection criteria included the number of employment opportunities created within the district, the working environment and quality of service, career development opportunities, compliance to statutory requirements in terms of employee compensation and benefits, employee welfare and other benefits and the social responsibility of the organisation. Apart from evaluating the application district-wise, the outlets were visited and audited by the department officers. Cargills scored high on all these factors on account of its social stewardship. 

Enhancing Youth Skills is one of the key principles of the Cargills business philosophy and is demonstrated by the fact that as much as 70% of its work force is from rural Sri Lanka and 80% is below the age of 25. 

The Cargills Training and Development process, initiated under the Albert A. Page Institute of Food Business, is a non-profit venture that develops a talented workforce equipped with the necessary modern knowledge and competencies along with a proper mindset to cope with emerging business challenges and gain a competitive advantage both locally and overseas. Moreover, the Cargills agribusiness model has gained global recognition for linking farmers and entrepreneurs to the market through a sustainable and inclusive value creation process, making employees proud to work with an organisation that nourishes the nation.