Gihan is the Principal Consultant of Gihan Talgodapitiya Associates in Sri Lanka & Singapore  and  the Director of Human Resource Management Institute (HRMI), Sri Lanka

He is an Expert for International Labour Organisation (ILO) Global Factories Improvement Programmes in India, Vietnam & Sri Lanka (2002 - 07) and ILO Enter-Growth Project in Sri Lanka (2008 -09); Project Evaluator for ILO Youth Employment Project (2009-10) and Consultant for European Chamber of Commerce Apparel Factories Improvement Project in Sri Lanka (2006 – 07) and Consultant for Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry (VCCI) - Department of International Trade Cooperation, Norway [HSH] Project for Development of Garment, Footwear and Interior Products factories in HCMC, Vietnam (2008). Gihan is the creator and presenter of ‘Brave World’ Children’s Development Workshops.

Gihan is an experienced Corporate Trainer with a unique record of presenting over 2500 seminars / workshops and retained by over 300 private and public sector enterprises in the Asian region during the last 20 years.

He holds a Masters in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore,   a Doctoral candidate at the Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands and An Accredited Administrator for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Psychometric Tools and Apollo Recruitment Profiling System. He is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. He has had specialised training in Service Quality Development & Total Quality Management in US and Japan. He is also a Certified Business Edge Trainer for the IFC – World Bank Group. Gihan was also the recipient of the 1994 Commonwealth Fellowship from The Commonwealth Foundation of UK for his contribution to management development.

His clients include Unilever Sri Lanka, Coats, Dell India,  Nestlé India, Nike India, Gokaldas Images India, Singapore Ministry of Defence, Owens Corning in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Fashion Line – Vietnam, Alpha Orient,  Advent, Land Transport Authority of Singapore, Shell Gas, Li & Fung, Next Near East, John Keells, Hayleys, MAS, Hemas, Brandix, Hirdaramanis, Ceylon Tobacco, Sri Lanka Insurance, Sri Lanka Telecom plus a large majority of the LMD 50, Banks, Hotels, Plantation and Apparel exporting companies in Sri Lanka.

Gamini Jayasiri, Senior Consultant & Trainer

Gamini has been in Corporate Training and Consulting since 1989 and has presented over 1200 workshops to well over 200 leading private sector enterprises. Whilst being a Senior Consultant at Gihan Talgodapitiya Associates, he functions as the Director of Academic Programmes at Garment Industry Management Institute (GIMI), Sri Lanka.

He is a specialist in supervisory and worker level programmes and has an excellent rating from his audiences with regard to training effectiveness and use of interactive techniques. He is a well sought after trainer for Quality Development, Cost Reduction, 5S Housekeeping and Work Organisation Practices, Problem Solving and Decision Making techniques, Quality Circles, TQM and Attitudinal Development Training. He has been retained as a consultant by many garment factories in their efforts towards enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. He also functioned as a local expert / facilitator in the ILO – Factories Improvement Programme and Graduate Placement Training Scheme of GOSL.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree from University of Kelaniya and has undergone specialised training in Japan in Total Quality Management (1999) and Entrepreneurship (1994). He has also been trained at the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board.

Jayantha de Silva, Senior Consultant & Trainer

With 18 years of experience in Consulting and Training, Jayantha plays a vital role in international consulting projects of Gihan Talgodapitiya Associates. Jayantha’s input comes in project formulation, feasibility analysis, developing implementation plans and schedules, project management and coordination with government institutions.

He has closely worked with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in the development of many innovative interventions in the sphere of (1) Reforms carried-out at Ministry of Employment and Labour, Sri Lanka (2) Formulating a structured approach to sustainable development of productivity in apparel factories (3) Designing and establishing National-scale Factory Improvement Projects in Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Ethiopia. He has functioned as the Regional Specialist (Asia) in Factory Improvement Programmes for ILO during the period 2002 to 2008, during which he had gained in-depth experience in dealing with government ministries and departments, local chambers of commerce and private sector institutions of all sizes.

Jayantha is good at (1) Conceptualising multi-disciplinary development projects for funding by a consortium of international donors (2) Translating of development initiatives to national scale projects (3) Managing, Monitoring and Reporting on developmental projects to implementing / donor agencies. (4) Managing local and cross-cultural organisations and interactions to achieve corporate objectives.

He is a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) UK and a Member of Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) UK.

Nandana Kanakaratne, Senior Consultant & Trainer

Nandana has developed a passion for cultural transformation and facilitating change during his two-decade long career with Unilever Sri Lanka. He has played the role of the ‘catalyst’ in bringing about numerous cultural and value based development initiatives which resulted in shifting age-old paradigms and transformation of attitudes at all levels and functions. His flair for analyzing and understanding ‘personality types’ gives him a distinctive advantage in developing positive behavioural trends in any organization transformation.

The 20 years of managerial experience with Unilever Sri Lanka ranged from business operations to all core areas of Human Resource Management. As HR Business Partner, Heading the HR functions for Supply Chain, Finance and IT, Nandana was heavy exposed to Unilever systems and training during which he developed an in-depth expertise in learning, recruitment, remuneration, organizational development and human resource business partnering. His main contribution to the organization came from the role he played as the Learning Manager in which he was a primary facilitator for introducing and implementing TQM, TPM and other world-class business excellence initiatives. Nandana played a key instrumental role in HR transformation process within the company starting from early 2000 and eventually culminating in Unilever factory attaining TPM Excellence award status in 2006, a feat no other Sri Lankan company achieved. He has been trained in the region for cutting edge HR and organizational developmental methodologies.

He has obtained his Bachelor of Science and Master of Philosophy Degrees from University of Peradeniya and subsequently pursued a Masters in Business Administration. After leaving Unilever in June, 2008, he has been working as a Human resource consultant and corporate trainer for some key leading multinational and local conglomerates.

Ravindra Senerath, Consultant & Trainer

Ravindra Senerath has been with Gihan Talgodapitiya Associates since 2001 and has contributed to several Productivity Development consulting assignments. These included ILO projects on developing Good Workplace Practices and many Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement assignments with leading apparel exporters.

Further he has conducted almost a 100 training programmes on productivity development, quality management, project management, leadership and teamwork development, supervisory and worker development and attitudinal development. Having worked alongside Gihan on countless number of consulting assignments and training workshops, Ravindra has acquired an in-depth knowledge in consulting and training methodology and has proved his talent by maintaining an unblemished feedback at end-programme evaluations.

Ravindra also functions as a senior resource person for Garment Industry Management Institute and Personality Development Institute and takes a lead role in presenting ‘Brave World’ Children’s Development Workshops. Prior to joining Gihan, he served the apparel industry in spearheading quality and production functions.

He possesses a Bachelor of Science degree from Ruhuna University and has attended many training programmes on Total Productive Maintenance, ISO 9000 QMS, Lean thinking, Apparel Production Management, etc. His keen interests in languages earned him a Gold Medal at the International Olympiad for Russian Language and Literature.

Wathsala Nanayakkara, Consultant & Trainer

Wathsala has 8 years experience in productivity related consulting and training. During this period she has worked with Gihan Talgodapitiya Associates, International Labour Organisation (ILO), The Employers' Federation of Ceylon (EFC) and Praguna Management Consultants. She was also a member of the ILO - Enter-Growth project team on Developing Good Working Practices (2008) and ILO Factory Improvement Programme team which handled 12 garment factories in 2003 / 04.

Wathsala holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Teaching Technology and she is a professional Counsellor being a member of the Sri Lanka National Institute of Professional Counsellors. She is also a certified Auditor for Quality Management Systems and Environment Management Systems (Certified by IRCA (International Register of Certificated Auditors -UK).

She has been conducting several Counselling and Attitudinal Development Training Programmes for many clients in Plantations, Apparel and service industries. Wathsala has had specialised focus on issues relating to work-place cooperation and industrial relations. She has been involved in at least 25 assignments leading to ISO 9000 Quality Management Systems certifications and ISO 14000 Environmental Management Systems certifications.