Reputed HR Professional Janaka Kumarasinghe recognised by Sri Jayawardenapura University

Wednesday, 7 January 2015 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Director of HR Services at prominent Human Resources consultancy and management company Kent Ridge Ltd., Janaka Kumarasinghe, who was also a former President of the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) from 2002 to 2004, was recognised for his outstanding contribution to the Department of Human Resource (HRM), Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, the HRM Scintilla Night 2014, which concluded recently.

Kumarasinghe was instrumental in developing industry-university co-operation through several activities such as providing opportunities for industrial training and jobs for students as well as inviting the department’s students for the first-ever HR Services Providers Exhibition, organised by IPM Sri Lanka in 2001. Furthermore, he invited established academics Dr. Bhadra Arachchige and Dr. Hilary Silva of Sri Jayawardenapura University to work in IPM subcommittees with industry professionals during the IPM presidency of Kumarasinghe. “I take this opportunity to thank the university for recognising my contribution and I’m happy that as a practicing HR professional I was able to contribute to uplifting the standards of education at the Department of Human Resources Management by sharing my professional experience with the students,” Kumarasinghe said. As the then HR General Manager at Suntel, Kumarasinghe pioneered the introduction of OBT (Out Bound Training) to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, organising the first-ever OBT program for the university in 2000. “Dr. Bhadra Arachchige, the first head of the HRM department, recognised the importance of Out Bound Training for students and endorsed the concept for all students, without which the OBT program would not have been successful,” Kumarasinghe added. He was also invited to share insights on multiple topics in Human Resources Management, in an event organised by the Department of Human Resources Annual Residential Workshop held at Thulhiriya Kabool Lanka Training Centre in 2001. As the President of the IPM, Kumarasinghe reactivated the honorary membership scheme at IPM and conferred an honorary membership in 2003 to Professor Gunapala Nanayakkara former Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura in recognition of his immense contribution to the field of management in Sri Lanka. He was also a key member among a group of HR professionals who recognised the valuable contribution to the field of business research made by Prof. Henearath Opatha by felicitating him in 2004. Janaka Kumarasinghe is a highly-qualified Human Resource Management professional with over 20 years of local and foreign experience in leading blue chip organisations. A Fellow of the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) Sri Lanka, Janaka possesses a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) from the University of Colombo and a Master’s of Science (M. Sc) from the Asia Pacific HRM from the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is also a member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) Australia and a Certified Member of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM).