Heineken Lanka aligns further to global commitment on inclusion and diversity

Heineken Lanka management team (from left): Thilanka Silva (standing), Janaka Bandara (seated), Dusty Alahakoon (seated), Mayanthi Wickremetilleke (standing), Samanthi Kariyawasam (seated) and Oshan Ranatunga (standing)

• Senior management team comprises members from diverse roles and industries across Sri Lanka

Further aligning itself with its regional and global commitments, Heineken Lanka Ltd. has taken further strides towards reaching its inclusion and diversity goals, with its senior management team leading by example. 

Truly embracing the broader spirit of diversity, the company’s management team hails from a wide array of sectors across multiple disciplines, and this diverse mix of knowledge and experience is set to firmly propel the company into the next stage of its growth journey.

The organisation recently welcomed Mayanthi Wickremetilleke as Director Corporate Affairs to its senior management team. Mayanthi was the former Country Lead – Sustainable Business and Communications at Unilever Sri Lanka, counting 13 years of experience in the FMCG industry. She joins a distinguished panel of industry professionals comprising Dusty Alahakoon – Managing Director; Samanthi Kariyawasam – Director Finance; Oshan Ranatunga – Director Sales and Marketing; Thilanka Silva – Director Human Resources and Janaka Bandara – Director Supply Chain representing industries including Beverages, FMCG, Manufacturing and Retail.

As a global company, Heineken believes that inclusion and diversity play a pivotal role in the development and growth of the organisation, thus creating greater business value. Diversity is not just associated with gender but rather, encompasses a far wider spectrum including age, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, experiences, skills and thinking styles. 

Speaking about the importance of robust inclusion and diversity practices, Heineken Lanka Ltd. Managing Director Dusty Alahakoon said, “We are very pleased that the senior leadership cadre of our company, now aligns even better with our international standards.  Female representation in the leadership team creates immense value and depth for businesses and is an aspect that is driven across all our operations as we believe in building on each other’s strengths and diversity to ensure high performing teams. We believe in consistently using the power of diversity and entrepreneurial spirit to create an inclusive environment where everybody feels they belong and have equal opportunity to contribute.”

Inclusion at the organisation relates to creating an inclusive work environment where colleagues feel safe and respected, are heard, and valued for who they are, and have equal opportunities to achieve their full potential. These broad areas have been simplified into nine actionable points – Making it safe for others, being transparent, finding common ground, communicating inclusively, seeking multiple points of view, giving and receiving, developing self-awareness, providing equal opportunities and shaping and delivering with the team.

Elaborating on the mindset the company tries to inculcate in its employees, Heineken Lanka Ltd. Director – Finance Samanthi Kariyawasam said, “Inclusion and diversity starts with the organisation appreciating and understanding inclusion at all levels. Only then is it possible to start accommodating people from diverse backgrounds, be it gender, age, education or experiences and providing them with opportunities to be high performers in the organisation, whilst moving away from creating homogenous groups of people. A diverse set of employees who bring different experiences to the table will make it a safe space for all, resulting in higher productivity and a more effective organisation.”

Realising how cross-cultural learning has been beneficial to the career growth of its employees, in 2018 the company introduced its Asia Pacific Graduate Program (APGP) to Sri Lanka, which is a two-year training program offering both private and state university graduates an opportunity to enter the regional talent pool and includes two international assignments within the Asia Pacific region. Once again ensuring inclusion, the total cadre of recruits have a 40-60, male to female split and hail from different ethnicities and specialties such as Supply Chain, Sales and Marketing, Human Resources and Finance. The program currently sees local graduates employed in Thailand, East Timor, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and Laos. As of last year, the APGP programme has been available in 13 countries.

It also operates a Local Graduate Trainee Program, which offers a two-year stint at a multinational company in Sri Lanka. The program has seen many exceptional performers benefit from this to date. In addition to this, high performing employees from different functions have been sent on short term assignments which have been of great benefit to them in terms of exposure to different cultures, working in different functions, working with different people from diverse walks of life, all of which benefits the business in the long run. Additionally, the company has sent several employees to Myanmar, Laos East Timor and Singapore on long term assignments.