EFC-StrEdge partnership offers customized business solutions

EFC Director General Kanishka Weerasinghe (left) and StrEdge Advisory CEO/Director Sumedha Wijesekara exchanging the MoU

From left: EFC Assistant Director General and Head of Training Yashoravi Bakmiwewa, EFC Assistant Director General and Head of Solutions (HR & Legal) Sewwandi Jayatunga Wijesekera, EFC Deputy Director General Vajira Ellepola, EFC Director General Kanishka Weerasinghe, StrEdge Advisory CEO/Director Sumedha Wijesekera, StrEdge Advisory Director Janaka Epasinghe, StrEdge Tech Solutions CEO/Director Udaya Samaradivakara, StrEdge Academy Director Ranmore VanDort​

Expanding the portfolio of the ‘Solutions’ arm of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC), it recently entered into a partnership with StrEdge Advisory Ltd. Following the MoU signed between EFC and StrEdge, the collaboration now offers a broad spectrum of new services to EFC members as well as non-members.

“This partnership will facilitate our objective of offering a wider range of products and services, particularly focusing on the strategic side. StrEdge, with its acumen in financial management will add value,” remarked EFC Director General, Kanishka Weerasinghe.

“The EFC-StrEdge partnership has scaled up the existing portfolio of the ‘Solutions’ arm of EFC. In addition to the customized HR and legal solutions it has been providing, the new partnership makes an array of other solutions possible and thereby enables a wider range of services to both the members and the non-members.”

“Particularly, the financial and strategic management expertise StrEdge brings in, blends in with the labour law and HR expertise of the Solutions arm,” stated EFC Assistant Director General and Head of Solutions (HR and Legal) Sewwandi Jayatunga Wijesekera. 

The partnership, as she further notes, is a win-win where some of the best experts in their respective fields from both organizations, will collaborate to leverage the business needs of the modern day. 

In a setting where businesses are compelled to brave unprecedented challenges, the EFC-StrEdge partnership aspires to address these challenges through an essentially, ‘home grown’ set of tools on par with the best global standards and practices, said StrEdge Advisory Ltd. Director/CEO Sumedha Wijesekera. 

“Business consultancy which has become ingrained in today’s business world comes at a cost, very often facilitated through overseas bodies. We at StrEdge deliver a gamut of services developed by our team of experts who brings with themselves hands-on experience reaped at state, private and multi-national levels.”

“This not only enables the companies to partner with consultants who understand the pulse of Sri Lankan business, but retains a considerable amount of money within the country, which otherwise would have gone beyond our shores.” 

Among the services offered by StrEdge are; business strategy defining, planning and implementation, human resource strategy for corporates, business process re-engineering, financial restructuring and advisory, Lean Six Sigma training and certifications, business coaching, technology advisory, design, development and implementation, training in Leadership, project management and operational excellence.

StrEdge Advisory Director Janaka Epasinghe notes that the holistic solutions StrEdge offers from the ‘people, process and technology’ perspective are geared to enrich EFC’s product and service proposition, validated through business and finance elements. 

“StrEdge strongly believes in the enrichment of human capital to drive the business, hence perfectly aligns with EFC’s journey.” Epasinghe further remarks that even the strongest of businesses are faced with dilemmas on the choices they need to make to keep the business afloat during this challenging time. 

“There is a struggle to simply stay in operation, remain financially strong whilst taking care of its valuable human capital. In the present uncertain business climate, employers are driven to make hard choices in employment, considering the continuing economic downturn and prolonged lockdowns. StrEdge believes in unleashing the true potential, deriving solutions for survival and growth through competencies that were built over time.”

Through collaborations and the creation of an ecosystem within the country, Sri Lankan entrepreneurs have the ability to survive and grow together, says Epasinghe. “Collaborations between consultancy firms and an organization such as EFC in the long run can reverse the payment outflow for consultancy services from Sri Lanka by creating a consistent inflow, thereby directly making an impact on the Sri Lankan economy.”