The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Sri Lanka Division in collaboration with Institute of Personnel Management in Sri Lanka conducted a Financial Awareness Programme for HR Managers on 11th March 2009 at the CIMA Auditorium. This programme was well patronised by more than 65 participants, with several HR Directors and Senior Managers of leading organizations in attendance.
CIMA's Regional Director for South Asia and Middle East Mr Bradley Emerson and Mr Dyan Seneviratne, Chief Executive of IPM Sri Lanka were present at the inauguration ceremony.

Finance plays a pivotal role in decision making. It is imperative for today's HR managers to be equipped with financial skills to deal with the volatile business environment. Managers need to take decisions, and decisions cannot be taken without being aware of the financial implications.

The course was outlined and presented by Mallik De Silva, Group Finance Manager, Richard Pieris & Co PLC who has local as well as international exposure in training non financial professionals in improving their financial skills. The main modules were on Understanding Financial Statements, Shareholder Value, Generating Cash and Profits, Adding Value with Finance focusing on Taxation of employees and preparing Budgets for the HR Department. . A work book which was specially designed for the course contained 13 scenarios of real life simulations which kept the audience actively involved during the entire programme.

Participants' commented that the programme was "Excellent", "very practical" and "a very good program for HR professionals". This programme was organized by the Member Services unit of the CIMA Sri Lanka Division and inquiries have already begun regarding future programmes and customized programmes for organizations.