Great Place To Work Sri Lanka hosts Regional Conference

Great Place To Work Sri Lanka recently hosted its flagship conference at the Hilton Colombo, bringing together industry and HR leaders to explore trust, culture, and leadership in building resilient, inclusive, and people-centered workplaces.

The day opened with an inspiring address, “Great Starts Here,” by Kshanika Ratnayaka, Director/CEO of Great Place To Work Sri Lanka, who stressed that culture today is mission-critical, in driving trust, empowerment, retention, and the attraction of top talent, while creating sustainable, purpose-driven impact.

In his keynote on Culture Capital, Hasitha Premaratne, Group Managing Director of Brandix, emphasized that shared values and behaviors drive success. He discussed on building resilience, using AI to enhance the human workforce, and leveraging trust and empowerment as key strategic advantages.

Mimi Nicklin, internationally bestselling author and founder of the world’s largest organizational empathy platform, highlighted Sri Lanka’s productivity slumps and talent drain as symptoms of a growing “empathy deficit”.She urged leaders to view empathy, emotional intelligence, and communication as vital skills, noting that psychologically safe workplaces foster creativity, collaboration, and resilience.

Hasindu Samarasinghe, Senior Consultant at Great Place To Work, launched the “Nation Builders: Powered by People” recognition, highlighting how organizations can drive livelihoods, invest in people, and uplift communities through holistic strategies in brand equity, ESG, (Environmental, Social, and Governance) DEI, (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and human capital development.

The conference also featured a series of sessions with industry leaders addressing today’s most pressing workplace challenges.

It also celebrated organizations recognized by their employees as Great Place To Work Certified, honoring their commitment to high-trust, people-centric cultures. It also reaffirmed Great Place To Work Sri Lanka’s role in driving workplace transformation and helping organizations thrive in a dynamic environment.