Mankind International celebrates 40 years of creating careers

Mankind International Ltd., formerly known as Maritime International Ltd., celebrated 40 years of operations in both local and overseas, placements, outsourcing and headhunting in Sri Lanka, on 6 November. Having diversified into various areas in employment the group currently has eight main subsidiaries, each specialising in their core areas.

With a portfolio consisting of many leading banks, multi-nationals, local and international conglomerates, finance institutions and hospitality, Mankind International Ltd.’s objective of creating careers is achieved through highly ethical and professional practices. Led by Fayaz Saleem as Chairman and Charmaine Vanderhoeven as Director/CEO, the group as well as the companies under it have had a successful 40 years, behind them.

Maritime International Ltd. is the oldest of these companies, as well as one of the oldest active foreign recruitment companies, with the license No. 11 under the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment. Specialising in the hospitality trade with most placements made to the Maldives and Seychelles, MIL’s key characteristic has been the fact that they are proactive and reach out to clients with their years of experience and research based forecasts. “Sri Lankan talent and skills mainly lie in the hospitality, construction and accounting fields. We also adopt the strategy of attracting the next generation, by using electronic and digital media to build awareness,” stated MIL Executive Director Savithri Fernando.

Executive Search Ltd. stands out in a competitive business arena working in a truly professional manner that has been refined and perfected over a period of 40 years. ESL is licensed to process overseas placements, with special focus on countries in the Middle East and several countries around the globe. ESL’s diversified clientele, comprise of Large Multinational and Conglomerates in sectors such as Banking, Retail, Hospitality, Automotive industry and many more. ESL Executive Director R. Muhsin stated, “Maintaining   high ethical practices in our business has sustained us since 1984, winning us 2 star and 4 star awards from the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment. We have expanded our services to source candidates from many parts of the world, such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and reverse recruitment to attract Sri Lankans back to the country.”

Maritime Placements Pvt Limited is the arm that concentrates on local placements and is further diversified within, by expanding into Maritime Contractual Solutions, Outsourcing, Transport and Engineering Services, Property Management and Maintenance as well as Allied Cleaning and Maintenance. Specialising in outsourcing, MPL Executive Director Soraya Saldin believes that outsourcing frees clients from much hassle as they take over the entire HR process from advertising to screening, recruitment, appointment, payroll, EPF, ETF, and all other labour matters. “We ensure that both the client and the outsourced staff are treated well, we assist them and guide them. As a result we have often been recommended to new clients by our present ones,” she commented.

Two companies, within the  Mankind Group that carry out Headhunting and Search, namely Appointments of International Management Specialists (AIMS), which is a prime executive search consultancy body in Sri Lanka,  and purely focuses on highly skilled senior Management roles for both the local and overseas clients, large national and multinational organisations, and  Hunt A Skill Ltd. (HAS) focuses on mid-level positions that require headhunting for the local clients, are headed by Executive Director Sunethra Hettiarachchi, under the direction of Chairman Fayaz Saleem.

AIMS, was established with the sole purpose of providing the corporate business houses with a professional headhunting service based on international practices such as research, identifying, interviewing and evaluating suitable professionals for very senior positions. “AIMS and Hunt A Skill have provided a professional service to a very wide portfolio of clients from varying industries for the past several years. The stability and success of this operation is largely attributed to strong and genuine relationships with clients, candidates and key corporate decision makers. In addition, AIMS markets resumes of Sri Lankan professionals residing overseas and who wish to return to Sri Lanka,” stated Hettiarachchi.

The new addition to the Mankind Group is Mankind IT, just 12 months old. Speaking about the latest venture Group Head of Marketing, Business Development and International Relations Ferhan Saleem stated, “The information technology industry is at the forefront of transforming and shaping our world, taking it to places that we could never imagine. Mankind IT is combining the recruitment industry with the IT industry, where we concentrate on bridging the gap between the many IT companies in Sri Lanka and the talent that can execute their visions.” According to him, the IT professional is unfamiliar to the recruitment industry as the industry they specialise in itself. Understanding that particular mindset and pairing them with the best choice of career is a process that needs to be handled with much responsibility. “We also want to encourage IT professionals to remain in Sri Lanka rather than opting to leave the country,” he added further.

The latest venture of the Mankind Group is HR Solutions Ltd., the training arm, which is currently focused on providing qualitative training programs for clients to develop their most valuable asset – their employees. The vision at HR Solutions Ltd. is to develop emerging leaders and to contribute to the corporate sector by bringing out the best in People, through training.

With such specialisation and diversity covering all areas of employment, Mankind International Ltd. is set to embrace change with an understanding of the industries and candidates they work with, setting the stage to continue for many more years.