With a demonstrated history of more than 2 decades in the industry, Chinthake Kodippilikande; CEO of Abans Engineering, is truly an exemplary leader thoroughly deserving the award for Construction Engineering CEO of the Year 2022.
Chinthake started his career in 1998 as a technical assistant at Sri Lanka’s Research Institute, Industrial Technology Institute, while he was studying engineering at the Open University of Sri Lanka and joined the Abans Group of Companies in 1999 as a Sales Executive considering a Carrier in Marketing. Along the way, Chinthake completed CIM, the UK-based marketing qualification, as well as pursued a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. He climbed the ladder of Abans Engineering for 13 years holding many managerial positions, until he left the company in 2011 while heading the Marketing Department. Chinthake left the company in 2011 for his future prospects and joined Vallibel One Plc as the Head of Procurement & Technical Evaluations, to directly work under the guidance of renowned Businessman Mr. Dhammika Perera where he gained a huge wealth of knowledge in all business areas under his purview, wherein he served the company for 6 years before he was called back at Abans Engineering to take up the CEO role in 2018.
Abans Engineering (Pvt) Ltd is one of Sri Lanka’s largest Building Services Contractors, with a solid track record in the Construction Engineering Industry for almost three decades. The firm is the engineering arm of the Abans Group. Abans Engineering lays its expertise in providing HVAC Systems, Escalators and Elevators, Electrical & ELV, Fire Detection & Protection & Total MEP Solutions under the Building Services Category of the Construction Industry. The Company is ISO 9001-2015 as well as 14001-2015 certified for quality management and environmental management systems respectively. Further the Company is registered as an EM1 Contractor for Building Services Construction by the Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA) and one of the pioneering members of the National Construction Association of Sri Lanka (NCSL) and the Chamber of Construction Industry in Sri Lanka. Abans Engineering is staffed with 260+ staff members which consists of 100+ proficient professionals and 80 qualified Engineers specialising in the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of Building Services.
It was as the CEO of Abans Engineering that he proved himself to the entire industry as well as to the corporate world by transforming the company that had been making accumulated losses to a significant profit making entity by 2022 amidst challenges due to Covid 19. Winning the award of Company of the year 2022 by the Asia Business Outlook under MEP Consultancy category is a testimony for this accomplishment. He is also a Member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers holding MASHRAE status.
There are a number of other factors that make Chinthake the most ideal candidate for this prestigious award. One being the changing of the industry rule of the game of “Price Based Competition” via a unique Knowledge Based Differentiation Strategy through knowledge sharing and training sessions for professional staff and getting them to understand the importance of being Brilliant in Basics in all professional knowledge domains to outperform competitors. Creating cooperation instead of competition among competitors, to collectively lobby government & other stakeholders for the benefit of the industry is another.
A CEO’s role as a good leader is crucially important, especially in leading organisations such as Abans Engineering, to have an engaged workforce. Participative decision making, and making employees trust the managerial & operational decisions, was one approach used to instil cultural change & motivation. “It is all about getting Head, Heart & Hands together to drive the organisation towards success as a leader, not forgetting that constructive criticism is required irrespective of individual perceptions during such criticisms” adds Chinthake Kodippilikande. To motivate employees, he established a formal appraisal system to recognize employees & reward them based on financial performance, knowledge based contribution and contribution to retain customers, via well-articulated KPI’s. Moreover, monetary rewards were established for profitable & successful project management. He has also initiated an open door policy to all executives making him accessible to his employees for any queries they wished to inquire about. Furthermore, all Head of Divisions were personally trained with the HR Department to ensure that SMART KPIs are set with the intention of enhancing organisational performance while creating motivated & engaged employees.
When asked about his feelings on receiving this award he replied “I am honoured to receive this award and consider this as a testimony for exceptional leadership and managerial skills that could be used to turnaround any organisation with a lasting positive impact on all stakeholders, economy and the wider society at large. The recognition received with the award evaluated by an independent and impartial body appointed by the CEO Magazine will have a positive impact towards career growth and act as a catalyst for motivation to all CEO’s.”