SriLankan Airlines recently became the first organisation in the country to launch an Employee Assistance Centre (EAC), which offers professional guidance and counselling for employees to overcome challenges in their work or personal life. The EAC would provide its expertise to any employee free of charge with the aim of facilitating peace of mind and [...]

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SriLankan Airlines launches Employee Assistance Centre

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SriLankan Airlines recently became the first organisation in the country to launch an Employee Assistance Centre (EAC), which offers professional guidance and counselling for employees to overcome challenges in their work or personal life.

The EAC would provide its expertise to any employee free of charge with the aim of facilitating peace of mind and quality of life, the airline said in a media release.

Sharing his thoughts on the initiative, Pradeepa Kekulawala, Head of Human Resources of SriLankan Airlines noted: “This initiative is based on the principles of industrial and business psychology, where employee wellbeing and productivity are often correlated. The wellbeing of the employees is of paramount importance to us as it ensures that employees stay in a positive frame of mind in order to give their best to the company. As an organisation, we encourage our employees to raise their performance levels. We believe that an initiative of this scale would enable them to focus better and improve themselves as professionals as well as individuals.”

The national carrier has obtained the expertise of the Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology (CIRP). CIRP is considered the pioneering and leading higher education institute in the field of psychology in Sri Lanka since 2010. It is the most popular private university for psychology education in South Asia, partnered by Coventry University of the UK. Branded as ‘CIRP Life Centre for Psychological Well-being’, it is staffed by the best psychologists and counsellors in the country including Sri Lankans and expatriates.

The EAC will grant employees advisory and counselling services on areas such as work life balance, positive parenting and child-minding, coping with stress and emotional challenges in professional and personal life, peaking performance and staying on top, and developing the spiritual quotient within them.

Dr. Dharshan Perera, Chairman of CIRP, said, “We are pleased to partner with SriLankan Airlines in pioneering a project of this scale. An initiative of this nature would enable us to counter the cultural stigma that you often associate with counselling. Counselling offers a tool which helps each individual to develop a performing mechanism that is needed to tackle life’s challenges.”

Boarding early

SriLankan Airlines on Tuesday urged all its passengers to report to the airport on time and be at the boarding gate 40 minutes prior to the scheduled time of departure. Those arriving 20 minutes before departure will not be permitted to board the aircraft.

In a media release, the airline announced the launch of its new ‘Ready to Fly!’ programme to enhance its world-renowned customer service by providing increased punctuality levels of its flights around the world, and requests co-operation from its valued passengers by boarding flights promptly.

“Our new ‘Ready to Fly!’ initiative is the result of feedback from a wide circle of customers. Not surprisingly, an on-time departure is one of the most important expectations of all our guests. In order for an aircraft to depart on time, the airline’s team works hard on all aspects of pre-flight preparation – this includes closing the doors in advance of scheduled departure time and making sure that the aircraft is ‘Ready to Fly’.”

The release said that to achieve our ‘Ready to Fly’ target, the departure gates will be strictly closed 20 minutes prior to the time of departure. Any guest arriving after this time will not be permitted to board the aircraft and their checked-in baggage will be removed from the flight, it said.

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