Oxford College of Business (OCB) has achieved another significant milestone in its workplace journey, being named among the 50 Best Workplaces in Sri Lanka for the 13th consecutive year at the Great Place To Work Awards 2026 — an achievement that reflects more than a decade of sustained commitment to building a high-trust, people-centered organisational culture.

Adding further significance to this milestone, Oxford College of Business was recognised as the No. 1 Micro-Sized Best Workplace in Sri Lanka, received Industry Excellence for Workplace Culture in the Professional Services Sector, and was ranked the 49th Best Small & Medium-Sized Workplace in Asia.

Together, the four distinctions provide a powerful endorsement of OCB’s workplace philosophy at national, industry, organisational-size and regional levels.

Thirteen Years of Consistency

For Oxford College of Business, being recognised among Sri Lanka’s 50 Best Workplaces for the 13th consecutive year is particularly meaningful.

While individual awards celebrate achievement at a particular point in time, thirteen successive years of recognition speak to something deeper — the ability to sustain a workplace culture through changing generations of employees, evolving expectations, organisational growth, technological transformation and new ways of working.

Throughout this journey, Oxford College of Business has continued to place its people at the centre of institutional progress, recognising that the experience it creates for students and stakeholders begins with the experience it creates for its employees.

The institution’s people philosophy is built around trust, respect, fairness, professional development, recognition, wellbeing, inclusion and meaningful opportunities for employees to contribute to the direction of the organisation.

No. 1 Micro-Sized Best Workplace in Sri Lanka

Further strengthening its 2026 performance, Oxford College of Business was named the No. 1 Micro-Sized Best Workplace in Sri Lanka.

The recognition demonstrates that the strength of workplace culture is not determined by organisational scale. Oxford College of Businesshas consciously used its close-knit organisational structure to encourage greater accessibility to leadership, stronger cross-functional collaboration, faster communication and a workplace where individual contributions can have visible institutional impact.

Commenting on the achievement, Malindu Ranasinghe, Director/CEO of Oxford College of Business, said: “Being recognised among Sri Lanka’s 50 Best Workplaces for thirteen consecutive years is perhaps one of the most meaningful achievements in our institutional journey. Awards may recognise a particular year, but consistency over thirteen years tells a much bigger story. It tells us that through change, growth and challenge, our people have continued to believe in the culture we are building together.

To also be recognised as Sri Lanka’s No. 1 Micro-Sized Best Workplace, receive Industry Excellence for Workplace Culture in the Professional Services Sector, and be ranked among Asia’s Best Small & Medium Workplaces makes 2026 an exceptionally proud year for Oxford College of Business.

We have always believed that if we expect our people to create exceptional experiences for our students, we must first create an exceptional experience for our people. Culture is not created for an award. It is built every day through how people are treated, whether they are heard, whether their contribution is valued and whether they are given the opportunity to become better versions of themselves.

This recognition belongs to every member of the Oxford College of Business family, past and present, who has contributed to this remarkable thirteen-year journey. Above all, I give glory to God for His grace, guidance and faithfulness that have sustained Oxford College of Business throughout these years.”

Oxford College of Business was also recognised for Industry Excellence for Workplace Culture in the Professional Services Sector, extending the significance of its achievement beyond higher education.

The recognition demonstrates OCB’s commitment to benchmarking itself against professionally managed organisations across the wider corporate landscape, rather than measuring workplace excellence solely against other educational institutions.

This approach has encouraged the institution to continuously strengthen its practices in areas including leadership development, employee engagement, performance management, professional learning, recognition, wellbeing, inclusion and digital enablement.

From Sri Lanka to the Asian Stage

OCB’s workplace credentials were further strengthened internationally with its ranking as the 49th Best Small & Medium-Sized Workplace in Asia.

The regional recognition places Oxford College of Business alongside organisations from across Asia and provides an important external benchmark for the institution’s workplace culture.

For Oxford College of Business, the achievement demonstrates that an organisation of relatively modest scale from Sri Lanka can build a workplace experience capable of earning recognition on a much larger regional stage.

Mrs. Lakshika De Silva, Director – Human Resources at Oxford College of Business, said: “Thirteen consecutive years of recognition make this achievement particularly special because great workplace culture is never something that can be completed. People change, expectations change and workplaces change. Our responsibility in HR is therefore to keep listening, learning and evolving.

At Oxford College of Business, we focus on creating an environment where people feel trusted, respected and valued, but equally where they are challenged to learn, grow and realise their potential. We continue to invest in professional development, employee wellbeing, recognition, inclusive practices, leadership opportunities and creating a workplace where people feel a genuine sense of belonging.

Being recognised as the No. 1 Micro-Sized Best Workplace in Sri Lanka is an enormous honour, but our greatest responsibility is to continue earning the trust of our people every day.”

More Than a Workplace Award

OCB’s sustained recognition reflects a broader belief that workplace culture and institutional performance are inseparable.

The institution considers engaged and empowered employees fundamental to delivering quality education, strengthening student experiences, embracing innovation and creating long-term value for its stakeholders.

Over thirteen years, this philosophy has evolved alongside changing workplace expectations. Greater emphasis has been placed on continuous learning and development, employee wellbeing and work-life balance, recognition and rewards, inclusive workplace practices, leadership development, mentoring, flexible ways of working, psychological safety and transparent performance management.

The result is a workplace culture designed not simply around retaining talent, but around enabling people to flourish.

Thirteen Years — and Still Evolving

Being named among Sri Lanka’s 50 Best Workplaces for thirteen consecutive years represents a remarkable chapter in Oxford College of Business’s organisational journey. Yet the institution views the milestone not as a destination, but as a responsibility to continue raising its standards.

The four Great Place To Work recognitions secured in 2026 — 13 consecutive years among Sri Lanka’s 50 Best Workplaces, No. 1 Micro-Sized Best Workplace in Sri Lanka, Industry Excellence for Workplace Culture in the Professional Services Sector, and 49th Best Small & Medium-Sized Workplace in Asia — collectively reflect the depth and consistency of the culture OCB has sought to build.

For Oxford College of Business, however, the most meaningful measure of a great workplace will continue to be found beyond rankings and trophies: in whether its people feel trusted, valued, supported, empowered and proud of the organisation they represent.

After thirteen consecutive years of recognition, OCB’s ambition remains unchanged to create a workplace where exceptional people can do exceptional work.

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In a keynote address that felt less like a lecture and more like an urgent intervention, global empathy expert and leadership strategist Mimi Nicklin on 4^th June challenged a room full of Sri Lanka’s most influential leaders to fundamentally rethink their approach to business, leadership, and national recovery.

Her message, delivered to a packed hall of professionals, executives, and change-makers in the field of Human Resources at the National HR Conference 2025 ogranised by CIPM at Monarch Imperial, was both simple and profound: stop treating empathy as a discretionary soft skill and start wielding it as a strategic necessity for growth.

“Empathy is not soft. It is not sentimental. It’s science. And in the world we live in today, it’s survival,” she declared, her voice resonating with conviction. Nicklin, the internationally bestselling author of Softening the Edge and a globally recognized voice for workplace well-being, argued that many of Sri Lanka’s most pressing challenges from productivity slumps to talent drain are symptoms of a deeper, more pervasive issue: a critical and growing “empathy deficit.”

The Staggering Cost of a Disconnected Workforce

To ground her argument in stark reality, Nicklin presented a sobering diagnosis of the nation’s human capital, drawing from the latest Gallup data. “The numbers are not just concerning; they are a call to action,” she asserted. “Only 10% of Sri Lankans report that they are thriving. A staggering seventy-five percent of employees are actively disengaged at work. This isn’t a minor human resources issue to be delegated away it is a national productivity and innovation crisis.”

She urged the audience to look beyond the percentages and consider the human reality behind them. At the heart of this widespread disengagement, she explained, is a silent epidemic of loneliness. “We have to understand that loneliness isn’t the physical absence of people it’s the emotional absence of connection,” Nicklin stated. “It’s the feeling of being unseen and unheard in a crowded office or a bustling city.”

This epidemic, she warned, carries a devastatingly high price. Citing extensive research, she noted that chronic loneliness has the same negative health impact as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and is more dangerous to long-term health than obesity. For businesses, it translates into higher absenteeism, lower performance, and a corrosive effect on team cohesion.

Her proposed solution is a radical reframing of the skills needed to lead in the 21^st century. “For decades, we have relegated empathy, emotional intelligence, and communication to the bucket of ‘soft skills.’ It’s a term that diminishes their power. I urge you to stop calling them that,” she pleaded. “These are not soft. These are fundamental survival skills. In a volatile world, they are the skills that lead to innovation, that foster true belonging, that drive profit, and that ultimately build stronger, more resilient nations.”

The Neuroscience of Trust: Your Brain on Fear vs. Your Brain on Safety

Diving deeper, Nicklin unpacked the hard science that underpins her philosophy. “This is not just a theory; it’s biology,” she explained, asking the audience to visualize the human brain’s response to threats. “When our brain perceives a threat and it doesn’t distinguish between a predator in the jungle and a toxic, unpredictable manager in the boardroom it triggers a primal survival response.”

She described how, under stress, the body is flooded with cortisol, and blood flow is diverted away from the prefrontal cortex the sophisticated, uniquely human part of the brain responsible for rational thought, complex decision-making, and empathy. Instead, resources are channeled to the amygdala, the brain’s ancient fear center.

“When your team members feel psychologically unsafe, they are, in a very real, biological sense, physically incapable of their best work,” Nicklin elaborated. “They cannot innovate, they cannot collaborate effectively, and they cannot solve complex problems, because the part of their brain required for those tasks is offline. They are in survival mode: fight, flight, or freeze.”

The key to unlocking human potential, she argued, is the deliberate cultivation of psychologically safe environments. This means creating a culture where employees feel secure enough to take risks, to voice dissenting opinions, and to show up as their authentic selves without fear of punishment or humiliation. It is only in this state of safety that the prefrontal cortex can fully engage, allowing for the creativity, collaboration, and higher-order thinking that drives organisations forward.

Listening: The Forgotten Superpower of Modern Leadership

To make her point tangible, Nicklin shared both global research and deeply personal anecdotes. She emphasized that at its core, empathy is built on the foundation of listening. She recounted a poignant lesson from her seven-year-old daughter, who once told her, “Mummy, when you don’t listen to me, I think you don’t care. And then I think you don’t want to be my friend.”

That simple, powerful truth, she noted, is a universal human experience that applies as much to the boardroom as it does to the home. “To be listened to is to be valued. To be ignored is to be invalidated,” she said.

She drew a compelling parallel from an unexpected field: high-stakes hostage negotiations. “The FBI’s Behavioural Change Stairway Model, used to de-escalate the most volatile situations imaginable, has five steps. The first and most important step is active listening,” she revealed. “They listen to understand, not to respond. They build a rapport of trust before they ever try to influence. If this is the most effective tool for connecting with a hostage-taker, imagine its power when applied to your team, your clients, or your stakeholders.”

A New Formula for Success in the Age of AI

Addressing the anxieties surrounding automation and artificial intelligence, Nicklin proposed a new, forward-thinking leadership formula: AI (Artificial Intelligence) + HI (Human Intelligence) = ROI (Return on Investment)

Her point was a powerful counter-narrative to the idea that technology will make human skills obsolete. “The more technology we integrate into our lives, the more we will crave authentic human connection. We don’t need less tech; we need more touch,” she argued. “AI can handle data, logistics, and repetitive tasks with incredible efficiency. But it cannot replicate empathy, it cannot build trust, and it cannot create a sense of belonging. Those are, and will remain, the domain of human intelligence.”

The true ROI in the future of work, she contended, will be found in the seamless integration of technological efficiency and deep human connection. “Empathy must be intentionally designed into our systems, our leadership models, and our organisational cultures if we are to thrive in this new era.”

Rebuilding Sri Lanka, One Empathetic Conversation at a Time

Having lived in Sri Lanka during the profound economic and social upheaval between 2021 and 2022, Nicklin spoke with a palpable sense of admiration for the nation’s spirit. “I have witnessed your resilience,” she said. “You have faced the darkest of days with a fortitude that the world can learn from. There is a spirit here of having a cup of tea and saying, ‘It’s okay, we will carry on.’ That is a powerful starting point.”

However, she gently challenged leaders to move from passive resilience to active rebuilding. She called for a conscious investment in what she terms “organisational empathy” the deliberate implementation of structures, language, and behaviours that systematically foster a sense of belonging and unlock collective performance.

“Motivation is, and always will be, relational,” she explained. “Think about the most motivated you’ve ever been. You were doing it for someone or for something bigger than yourself. If you want people to follow you at work, at home, or in your country you must first connect with them. You must listen.”

The central message of her speech was clear and unmistakable: Sri Lanka’s road to a prosperous and stable future will not be paved by economic policies and infrastructure projects alone. It will be rebuilt from the inside out one conversation, one act of genuine listening, and one empathetic leader at a time.

Nicklin left the audience with a final, resonant challenge. “Listening is not a luxury. It is not an add-on. For every single leader in this room, it is your most urgent imperative.”

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