Hayleys Kelani Valley Plantations PLC was became the only Regional Plantation Company (RPC), to have been recognized with a special award above the merit level, for its pioneering efforts in the field of employee health and wellbeing at the inaugural Sri Lanka Health and Productivity Awards 2019, organized by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Chamber of Young Lankan Entrepreneurs (COYLE) recently.

Initiated to maximize the performance of the Sri Lankan corporate sphere by improving engagement, retention, productivity, and performance, the Corporate Health and Productivity Awards aim to create and bolster a healthier and positive thinking workforce capable of providing higher quality customer services and products.

"It is a great honour to be the recipient of a special Health and Productivity Award, especially as it has been a year of realizing several long term projects aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of our employees, such as the comprehensive human resource system that was implemented to create a conducive work environment and adopting the Electronic Weighing System which ensures our workforce is adequately compensated for manufacturing the best quality tea.

"While these processes maybe recent to the tea plantation industry at large, we believe that it is a necessity to ensure a well performing, productive and efficient employee base who are happy and well looked after. Therefore, to be the only regional plantation to have been recognized amongst giants from various sectors for a special award, is indeed a true honour and further validation that the bold strategies we have implemented, "Hayleys Plantations Managing Director, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai stated.

The award criteria and concept is based on the ‘Health & Productivity Stock Selection’ program which is held in Japan by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Tokyo Stock Exchange. This year’s awards represented the first time that Sri Lankan companies were subjected to a comprehensive evaluation and an exhaustive on-site audit conducted by highly competent professionals, academics and senior officials of JETRO and COYLE.

Incorporated as a Regional Plantation Company in June 1992, KVPL is among the leading manufacturers of Tea and Rubber. The company’s performance at the inaugural Health and Productivity Award is the latest in a string of accolades secured by the KVPL, particularly in relation to its pioneering and highly successful employee welfare and productivity programmes. Its pioneering HRM model has been developed to focus beyond the conceptual HRM initiatives, extending the programme to serve the needs of the company’s direct workforce, as well as the welfare of over 14,000 plantation community from birth to death.

Over the recent past, KVPL was also awarded the Best HR Practices for Organizational Development at the South Asian Business Excellence Awards in addition to winning the Leading HR Practices in Quality Work-Life at the Global HR Excellence Award. The RPC owns and operates eleven ISO 22000; 2005 Certified factories, which manufacture the highest-quality Pure Ceylon Tea for the global market.

Photo caption: Mr. Johann Rodrigo – Director – Corporate Affairs and Mr. Anuruddha Gamage – Deputy General Manager – HR & Corporate Sustainability accepting the award from Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva, His Excellency the ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka, and Senior Officials from JETRO and COYLE