Union Assurance: Making a great place to work for its employees

Thursday, 11 June 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

UAL-RJ-LMD-1

Union Assurance GM Human Resources Brigadier Rohan Jayasinghe

The Great Places to Work (GPTW) Institute recognised Union Assurance PLC – for the third year running – as a work place that is conducive to growth and personal development at the award function which was held on 10 July at Colombo Hilton. Based on a survey conducted on over 12,500 employees, in partnership with the LMD, GPTW recognises an organisation’s commitment to nurturing and developing its human resources.

The company has created unique training programs for all categories of employment. These training modules are crafted to impart knowledge on leadership and management.

Additionally, in line with the values espoused by the Great Places to Work Institute, the company has put in place rewards schemes, performance evaluation schemes and opportunities for employees of all levels to express their views at forums such as the ‘Coffee with the CEO’ forum. “We have an open door policy across the company. On top of that we conduct skip level meetings on a regular basis, we have a robust Grievance Procedure, and an Employee Suggestion Scheme – all these components contribute greatly towards this culture.”

At Union Assurance, the remuneration and rewards are directly linked to an employee’s rating in the year-end appraisal. These reviews which take place mid-year and again at the end of the year, assess each employee’s skills, knowledge and attitude and starts of with a self appraisal. It also takes in to consideration each person’s specific training needs and is weighed against his/her potential, suitability for current post and their aspirations.

At this stage of the process, the Career Committee will sit to review the final rating, which can be a time consuming but beneficial process that ensures transparency. The process comes to a close with the feedback stage, where a member from the career committee and the employee’s line manager will speak to him/her to provide an update on his/her performance status and way forward.

Union Assurance General Manager of Human Resources Brigadier Rohan Jayasinghe recently discussed the importance of cultivating a nurturing (as well as challenging) work environment – on both a macro, as well as micro, level. “The three most important ingredients of a great workplace are the work environment, genuine concern for the staff in their personal development and transparent performance management. Finally, exceptional conduct, behaviour and professionalism of the top management,” he began.

“By and large the corporate world is moving in the right direction in Sri Lanka. We even have certain companies trying to imitate Google inc. by way of free gourmet meals and absolutely flexi working hours. I believe, even without such measures, we have as a country, stopped the brain drain to a great extent,” said Jayasinghe.