The panelists (L to R): Sandra De Zoysa, Group Chief Customer Officer, Dialog Axiata; Rohan Manasseh, Senior HR Manager, NDB Bank; Mikhail Selvenayagam, Group Director, Senok Trade Combine; Hye Jin Kwon, Country HR Director, Microsoft Singapore & SEANM; Wasantha Weerakoone, COO, Tech One Global; Harsha Purasinghe, CEO/ Director, MiHCM
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: On Thursday (31), Microsoft co-hosted a forum on “Deliver[ing] Digital Transformation to HR” alongside partners, MiHCM (formerly, Microimage HCM) and Tech One Sanje at the Hilton, Colombo where over 150 participants—composed of CXOs, HR professionals, and senior technology practitioners from roughly 100 companies—listened to global leaders who understand the impact of technology on the workforce and workplace.
The forum addressed a wide range of topics, including integrated digital transformation strategies for HR, the workplace culture, emerging technologies, and the power of data, with speakers from Microsoft, MiHCM, Tech One Global, Dialog Axiata, NDB Bank and Senok Trade Combine. Their discussion with the audience showcased how HR professionals were contributing to businesses at a more strategic level with modernized HR solutions leveraging AI and cloud services.
Country Manager for Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives, Hasitha Abeywardena, led the session by emphasizing the importance of digital transformation. “In today’s mobile-first, cloud-driven world, technology and your business’s ability to embrace digital transformation will make a big difference in how competitive you are. That’s why we are not the same company we were five years ago. HR will need to partner with business leaders on how they undertake digital transformation in the organisation.”
“At Microsoft, we are building a modern workplace; empowering everyone in an organisation to be more creative and collaborative using tools like Microsoft 365 and MyAnalytics,” said Hye Jin Kwon, Country HR Director, Microsoft Singapore & SEANM. “HR will need to ensure the organizational culture complements the digital transformation agenda. A culture change doesn’t happen overnight. It requires conviction and clear direction. It takes time and a concerted effort from everyone.”
MiHCM CEO and Director Harsha Purasinghe said, “The emergence of digital natives and exceptionally tech-savvy employees are driving companies around the world to reinvent the wheel on HR. Today we serve more than 200 companies across 15 international markets through our cloud-based solution, MiHCM Cloud. We have the means to deliver one holistic digital experience through a continuously updated web, mobile application that features talent management tools, conversational chatbots, and intuitive analytics.”
“Thanks to MiHCM Cloud, 80% of our HR process has been digitized,” said Wasantha Weerakoone, COO, Tech One Global. “As a document management company, we have digitized five billion pages as a result—that’s 100 kilometers of paper stacked up. We can now focus our attention on document verification through blockchain based-tokens and dynamic redaction of information to help with GDPR compliance.”
A panel discussion later demonstrated how company leaders were implementing their own digital HR transformation agendas leveraging MiHCM Cloud. The forum’s extensive panel line-up included: Hye Jin Kwon, Country HR Director, Microsoft Singapore & SEANM, Rohan Manasseh, Senior HR Manager, NDB Bank; Sandra De Zoysa, Group Chief Customer Officer, Dialog Axiata; Wasantha Weerakoone, COO, Tech One Global and Mikhail Selvenayagam, Group Director, Senok Trade Combine. Members of the audience were then invited to a user experience demo where representatives of the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) were harnessing every bit of newer technology to empower HR professionals.