‘Navigating Dire Straits’: The National HR Conference 2023

The highly awaited National Human Resource Conference (NHRC) 2023, which is the nation’s premier event for human resource management, organized by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Sri Lanka, was held on the 21st and 22nd of June 2023 at Monarch Imperial, Sri Jayewardenepura. This flagship conference marked its return after a three-year hiatus, attracting a global gathering of esteemed HR professionals and industry representatives,

The event encompassed six technical sessions, including three-panel discussions, the Great HR Debate, the National HR Exhibition, and the prestigious CIPM Lifetime Gold Award. The conference boasted an impressive lineup of speakers, with Rolf Blaser, Managing Director/CEO, A. Baur & Co. (Pvt.) Ltd., delivering the keynote speech. Giving the keynote address, Rolf Blaser said, “We need to critically evaluate the reasons for our current situation, isolate the factors we can influence, and work hard on them to come out of these ‘Dire Straits’ in a reasonable time.”

Renowned resource personnel from around the world, including representatives from the Bangladesh Society for Human Resource Management and Maldives Association of Human Resource Professionals, participated in the conference, showcasing the interest and enthusiasm of the global and regional HR community in the activities organized by CIPM Sri Lanka.

The NHRC 2023, hosted by CIPM, served as a platform to discuss and address pressing people management challenges faced by companies today on very critical topics such as How People Management Practices Support Businesses in Navigating Dire Strait; The Impact of the Economic Downturn on People’s Practices; Mass Skilled Migration and its impact on Socio-Economic Development; Lessons from Covid 19 that People professionals should take into the future; Sustainable People Practices and Green Initiatives; and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) – is it a fad or an essential survival tool in an economic crisis?

“We are delighted to host the NHRC after a lapse of three years. The NHRC is the only dedicated event that brings the entire HR fraternity from all over the country under one roof to discuss people management challenges and arrives at efficient, workable solutions,” stated Ken Vijaykumar, the president of CIPM Sri Lanka. The expert lineup of speakers and panelists at the technical sessions and panel discussions shared valuable insights that helped raise the bar for the HR fraternity in navigating these dire straits.