SriLankan honours staff

SriLankan Airlines honoured 117 members of its staff who completed 25 years service at a special ceremony at the World Trade Centre, Colombo recently. Peter Hill, CEO of SriLankan, presented each of the employees with a plaque, together with a gold coin and a certificate of appreciation.

This was the second successive year that the Airline honoured its staff with 96 being feted in the previous year when SriLankan itself turned 25.

Other members completed 20 years, 15 years, and 10 years were felicitated at smaller ceremonies that were conducted in each department of the company.

The recipients at the ceremony on December 14 included eight from overseas stations in Malaysia, UAE, India, Kuwait, Japan and Qatar. Others came from all departments of the airline, including several managers.

CEO thanked the staff for their efforts over the years, noting how it began with Boeing 707s, and went on to 737s, 747s, Lockheed 1011 Tristars, Airbus A320s and A340s, and then the days of privatization, re-branding, and the arrival of the A330s. "It feels great to have spent 25 years with Air lanka and SriLankan," said Foo Kuan Shyan, Cargo Manager, Malaysia, who was one of the recipients.

Head of Human Resources Sunil Dissanayake said it was an important event for the company to recognize its staff. Rehan Fernando, Manager Procurement & Logistics Aircraft, one of the recipients in his vote of thanks thanked the company on behalf of all recipients for recognising the contributions of the staff. SriLankan which flies to 49 destinations in 28 countries has more than 5,500 employees throughout its global network and in offices throughout Sri Lanka.

The National Carrier places special emphasis on the career advancement and welfare of its staff, and was the First Runner-Up at the National Human Resources Management Awards two consecutive times.

These include a company-wide Employee Opinion Survey that gathers advice from staff on every aspect of the company and providing training and further education at the sophisticated Human Resource Development Centre in Katunayake which is accredited to many prestigious international educational institutes.

SriLankan's management keeps staff informed of matters throughout the company through several methods, including "Monara" a 16-page monthly newsletter in Sinhala and English, notices via the company's intranet system, and regular meetings between management and staff.

The airline also has collective agreements with all of its employee unions, which guarantee personal career matters such as salary increments, benefits, annual evaluations, and promotions.