HNBA News

HNB Assurance PLC (HNBA) and its fully owned subsidiary HNB General Insurance Limited (HNBGI) came forward to provide an insurance cover for the Commonwealth medalist Ms Nethmi Ahinsa Fernando who is 18 years of age, the youngest ever Sri Lankan medalist at the Commonwealth Games. She won a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the Women's 57 kg event, winning Sri Lanka's first-ever medal in the sport of wrestling. Considering the tremendous achievement of Nethmi Ahinsa and the fame brought to Sri Lanka, HNB Assurance PLC is happy to be the pioneer to grant an exclusive Life Insurance policy while HNB General Insurance Limited also offered a comprehensive renewable Surgical and medical insurance cover. In recognition of the support and the contribution Mr Suranga Kumara her coach has made towards this prestigious achievement was presented with a cash reward. Sharing his views, Chief Executive Officer of HNBA, Mr. Lasitha Wimalaratne stated “we are happy to support a true Sri Lankan brand Nethmi Ahinsa and elevate her talent by providing an exclusive life insurance cover for the effort and prestige she has brought Sri Lanka. This achievement is indeed a great inspiration and motivation to all of us especially to our country at this time”. Mr. Sithumina Jayasundara, Chief Executive Officer of HNBGI stated, the youngest ever Sri Lankan medalist at the Commonwealth Games, we are honored to provide an insurance cover to Nethmi Ahinsa who has taken Sri Lanka into the global arena in the game of wrestling, and we look forward to supporting our emerging talented Sri Lankans to achieve their ambitions in their life journey. HNB Assurance PLC (HNBA) is one of the fastest growing Insurance Companies in Sri Lanka with a network of 64 branches. HNBA is a Life Insurance company with a rating of ‘A+’ (lka) by Fitch Ratings Lanka for 'National Insurer Financial Strength Rating'. Following the introduction of the segregation rules by the Insurance Regulator, HNB General Insurance Limited (HNBGI) was created and commenced its operations in January 2015; HNBGI continues to specialize in motor, non-motor and Takaful insurance solutions and is a fully owned subsidiary of HNB Assurance PLC. HNB General Insurance has been assigned a 'National Insurer Financial Strength Rating' of ‘A+’ (lka) by Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited. HNBA and HNBGI are rated within the Top 100 brands and Top 100 companies in Sri Lanka by LMD and HNB Assurance has won international awards for Brand Excellence, Digital Marketing and HR Excellence including the Great Place To Work® Certification. HNB Assurance was awarded the Best Bancassurance Service Provider in Sri Lanka by Global Banking and Finance Review and has won many awards for its Annual Reports at award ceremonies organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

HNB Assurance PLC (HNBA) and its fully-owned subsidiary HNB General Insurance Limited (HNBGI), have been having steady year-on-year growth while the business remains dynamic and resilient. Over time, both companies' productivity plateaued, and several waste types were identified by dissecting the processes. With the growing intensity of competition, in 2019, the companies partnered with Dr Mikel J Harry Six Sigma Management Institute Asia to focus on standardization, quality & efficiency improvement, cost reduction, reducing process variation and enhancing process control. Even though Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is not a new concept, it is all about doing more with less. As of date, HNBA & HNBGI have more than 50 Black belt and Green belt LSS practitioners across all divisions of both organizations. Both companies reaffirmed their commitment towards inculcating a lean culture with a recent batch of employees successfully graduating last September 2022, having completed the Green and Black Belt program. Upon successfully completing the course, nominated staff members to undertake a real-life project with the guidance of an SSMI Master Black Belt. Dinesh Yogaratnam, Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer stated, "as organizations grow, they may carry with them processes and procedures implemented in the past, which may not add value in the present day. This program has given both organizations the necessary teeth in terms of trained staff who are able to deep dive into processes and improve efficiencies by way of removing nonvalue-adding activities". He also emphasized the importance of a learning culture in the organization so that by understanding and appreciating the potency of concepts such as Lean Six Sigma could inculcate it at all levels in the Company and this change in mindset would contribute towards superior financial performance that ultimately improves the bottom line of the organisation. He thanked Mr Dumidu Ranaweera -Global Director APAC, Middle East, Oceania, Africa & Canada of Dr Mikel J. Harry Six Sigma Management Institute Asia for all the support that has been given in terms of training and guiding the team. Geethani Saram, Head of Business Process Excellence & Procurement of HNBA, reflecting on what LSS revealed, stated that she believes corporates should draw attention to a few critical observations while analyzing the impact of Lean Six Sigma in an organization. Further elaborating, Different LSS tools will deliver different results based on situations and their application. As an organization, we focused on the overall process of providing value to our end customers. The culture for problem identification, rectification and error-proofing enables logical problem-solving, adding value throughout the process. Driving value-added activities permitted us to reduce costs and improve throughput time. We aimed to enhance the knowledge of all our employees, aiding them in selecting the appropriate LSS tools for operational problem-solving. And encouraging employees to become change agents who deliver resounding customer convenience eliminating waste in our processes. Hazana Caffoor, Senior Manager R&D and Process Re-Engineering of HNBGI, mentioned that LSS is a fundamental transformation in the thinking and behavioural patterns rather than applying changes in the process. The systematic elimination of waste creates a positive contribution towards working capital management. After I saw the potential and usefulness of LSS to myself, I made an effort to manifest it in the minds of our people as I saw many opportunities for positive transformation. The aim of this LSS approach has resulted in changing the mindsets of the operational team to look at operations differently while sustaining a lean culture and creating a learning organization. With this initiative, both companies utilize the lean six sigma tools and ideas to promote a new strategic outlook that brings about creativity, innovation, structured problem-solving skills—at the same time, enhancing employee motivation towards providing an excellent service to all our valuable customers. The Lean Six Sigma program of HNBA & HNBGI titled "Evolution Circle" is the Company's way of giving an identity to the program and the team members. As the name implies, the process of evolution that we have embarked upon is seamless in that one needs to constantly keep improving and attuning oneself, to the complex and dynamic environment in which businesses operate and be continually relevant. The Company has also specially designed a rewards and recognition scheme where all members are entitled to participate. At the recently held Staff Conference, the LSS member and their teams were awarded the Best Cost Saving Project, Best Efficiency Improvement Project, and Best Customer Experience Enhancement Project. HNB Assurance PLC (HNBA) is a leading Life Insurance Company in Sri Lanka with a network of 64 branches. Fitch Ratings Lanka has assigned HNBA a rating of 'A+' (lka) for 'National Insurer Financial Strength Rating'. Falling in line with the introduction of the segregation rules by the Insurance Regulator, in January 2015, HNB General Insurance Limited (HNBGI) commenced its operations. HNBGI continues to specialize in motor, non-motor and Takaful insurance solutions while being a fully-owned subsidiary of HNB Assurance PLC. Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited has assigned HNB General Insurance a 'National Insurer Financial Strength Rating' of 'A+' (lka). HNBA is rated within the Top 100 brands and Top 100 companies in Sri Lanka by LMD and has won international awards for Brand Excellence, Digital Marketing and HR Excellence, including the Great Place To Work® Certification, and won many awards for its Annual Reports at award ceremonies organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

HNB Assurance (HNBA) made its inaugural debut to the 70 Best Workplaces in Asia™ 2022 listing under the Large size category, and also has the honour of being the only insurance company in Sri Lanka to have received this prestigious recognition. It was just few weeks ago that it was ranked amongst the Top 50 Best Workplaces in the Sri Lanka. This further reaffirms that HNBA truly values its Employee Value Proposition of ‘Making work enjoyable and rewarding’, across its diverse workforce and have sustained the tribe’s recognition as a fast-growing Life Insurance company in Sri Lanka. Great Place to Work identifies Best Workplaces in Asia™ by surveying over 1 million employees in Asia and the Middle East about the key factors that create great workplaces for all and analyzing company workplace programs impacting over 4.7 million employees in the region. This acknowledgment further demonstrates that HNBA is committed to make the company an even better place to work where everyone can grow, be happy, feel well while continue to create sustainable value for our stakeholders. Lasitha Wimalaratne CEO of HNBA expressing his views shared that ”as a company that fuels dreams and aspirations, transcends the talent of over 600 employees, we are extremely humbled by this recognition of not only making it to Asia’s best 70 workplaces, but for also being the only Sri Lankan insurer to do so. This firmly reassures the caring, respected and empowering nature of our company which continuously understands the unique capabilities of each individual member coming from diversified ethnicities and backgrounds. I firmly believe that as one of the fast-growing Life Insurance companies in Sri Lanka, the mantra behind our success despite the challenging times was to invest in people by consistently leveraging their personal and professional growth”  Dinuka Pattikiriarachchi, Chief Human Resources Officer / General Manager – HNB Assurance PLC and HNB General Insurance Limited shared that” The human resource strategy is a key success driver that powers HNBA which extensively reflects its efforts in creating a great place to work with augmented values, helping employees to reach greater heights in their careers. This award felicitates the credibility of our company as well as its people management strategies. Adapting and evolving through the challenges, HNBA always keeps our teams happy and motivated.”