• Wins a Gold Award at the at SLITAD People Development Awards 2014
• The youngest organization in terms of market existence in Sri Lanka to receive this prestigious accolade
• The only telecommunication operator to be appreciated and honoured for its endeavors  in the areas of learning, capability building and  human resource management

Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced that the company was a recipient of a Gold award at the recently concluded People Development Awards 2014 organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Training and Development ( SLITAD) that was held at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo.

SLITAD People Development Awards recognizes public and private sector organizations in Sri Lanka, who excel in the field of training and development and best practices in Human Resource Development in the corporate world. Out of all the leading corporate giants in the country who applied for this award, Bharti Airtel Lanka was the youngest organization and the only telecommunications company to win this prestigious accolade.

“It is with pride that we acknowledge this award. This has given us the opportunity to showcase our global HR best practices in the areas of learning and development which is indeed a significant achievement for us. The growth opportunities at Airtel are tremendous especially with our presence in 20 countries and emerging markets. Our key focus areas have always been to build and accelerate talent development through target led interventions and capability building.” said Anouchka Pathirana, Head of Human Resources, Bharti Airtel Lanka.

“The overall people strategy at Airtel aims at partnering with business and understanding the talent needs to take the business to the next phase of growth, thereby providing enriching careers to all our team members. Further we constantly innovate and update all our people related systems and processes to ensure it is current and relevant – thus being proactive and taking into consideration the challenges of tomorrow,” she further added.

Sri Lanka Institute of Training & Development (SLITAD) is a leading non-profit organization in Sri Lanka that is striving to promote and propagate best practices in the sphere of human resource development in the country. The primary aim of SLITAD is to support the national economy through the enhancement of productivity for which human capital development is an essential prerequisite. SLITAD People Development Awards are akin to the ‘Oscars’ in the sphere of people development. This prestigious Awards is perhaps Sri Lanka’s only award scheme that endeavours to recognize and promote human resource development in the country.

Bharti Airtel Lanka commenced commercial operations of services in Sri Lanka on January 12, 2009, and was the fastest operator to reach 1 million customers in Sri Lanka. With its network footprint panned out across the country and capturing strategic ranking positions in various areas in less than three years of operations, Airtel has emerged as Sri Lanka’s fastest expanding network. Registered under the Board of Investment in Sri Lanka, Airtel Lanka provides digital mobile services into Sri Lanka which includes voice, data and enterprise solutions.  The Company has received accreditations such as ISO 27001:2005 and ISO 22301 for its continuous efforts towards information security and business continuity. Airtel Lanka is the youngest organization to be ranked among the Top 50 in LMD’s Most Respected Entities list in 2014. To know more please visit, www.airtel.lk