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PEOPLE FIRST - AVTAR GILL - CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER, SONEVA: "EFFORT MATTERS MORE THAN GRADES"
In our "People First" series, human resources leaders share insights on recruitment and retention strategies. |
Catégorie : - Carrières
- Interviews et portraits
- Carrière - Interviews
Interview de Sonia Taourghi le jeudi 14 août 2025
 Avtar Gill, Chief Human Resources Officer pour Soneva
Crédit photo © Soneva
Avtar Gill, Soneva’s Chief Human Resources Officer, answers our questions about recruitment, the onboarding process, and career development, and gives key advice for a successful career in luxury hospitality.
Can you tell us more about your recruitment process?
At Soneva, we cast the net wide, but always with purpose. We use a combination of channels: direct sourcing, LinkedIn, specialist hospitality job boards, referrals, campus hiring, and targeted outreach, but what sets us apart is the way we connect recruitment to our communities. We actively engage with the islands surrounding our resorts, tapping into underrepresented talent, including underprivileged families.
One area I’m particularly proud of is our work to address the gender disparity in the Maldives. Through our female Hosts acting as ambassadors in their own communities, we’ve increased the proportion of women in our workforce from around 19% to 30% in under three years, well above the Maldives hospitality average of under 10%.
Our process is deliberately collaborative. We take a 360-degree approach to selection, where multiple stakeholders contribute to the decision-making. The hiring manager’s voice carries weight, but no single person has the absolute veto. This ensures we balance technical ability with what we call the “Soneva DNA”, which is cultural fit and alignment with our values. For senior roles, we go deeper with psychometric tools and assessment centres, which focus heavily on values, leadership style, and how someone will contribute to our unique culture.
How do you integrate new talent?
When I joined Soneva five years ago, our onboarding was, frankly, chaotic, disjointed, inconsistent, and varying wildly from one resort to another. There was no shared rhythm or learning journey, so one of my first priorities was to reimagine it entirely.
We now follow a phased approach that mirrors the natural journey of a new Host:
The Essentials: welcome, introductions, HR processes, health and safety, and our non-negotiable sustainability ethos.
Embedding: deeper integration through role-specific training, service standards, and exposure to different departments.
Enrichment: leadership and personal development, plus our TRUST programme, which builds psychological safety and encourages Hosts to speak up from day one.
Over the coming months, we’ll be introducing targeted onboarding tailored to role, level, and location. Our buddy system pairs new Hosts with colleagues who help them socially and professionally, which is often the key to helping them settle quickly and contribute faster.
What kind of career development programmes do you offer?
Career development and Learning and Development (L&D) have seen the most transformation during my tenure. We’ve reimagined succession planning, overhauled performance management into a 360-degree process, and created the Soneva Barefoot Academy — our one-stop shop for soft skills across the group.
The Barefoot Academy runs three LEAD (Leadership Excellence And Development) programmes:
LEAD Preparatory: for junior Hosts aspiring to supervisory roles.
LEAD Foundation: for first-line supervisors and managers, building on Preparatory principles.
LEAD Advanced: for middle and senior managers, deepening leadership and management skills.
We also run EXCEED, our dedicated programme for Butlers (Barefoot Guardians), supporting current and aspiring BGs with training unique to Soneva’s luxury service style.
Assessment and development centres throughout the year flag high-potential Hosts, and career discussions with HoTs (Heads of Teams) keep the pipeline active. We’ve filled many senior roles internally, something far less common in the past, and my 10-year vision is to see a Maldivian female general manager rise through our ranks.
What internal mobility opportunities do you offer?
Internal mobility is one of our strongest levers for retention and development. Cross-training between resorts is actively encouraged and forms a KPI for our operations team. All vacancies are advertised internally before we look externally.
In 2026, we will launch the Soneva Graduate Management Programme, an 18-month journey with rotations across key departments, leadership training, mentorship, and a capstone project that culminates in placement into a managerial role. This programme is designed to build well-rounded leaders with deep operational and strategic understanding.
Many senior positions are now held by Hosts who started in more junior roles, proving that our internal pathways are working.
What would be your best advice to succeed in luxury hospitality?
Start with being human and treating others accordingly; it’s at the core of everything I do. Too many people advance by flattering upwards and punching downwards, particularly in the Middle East and APAC regions. We need more behaviour-led management and honest 360-degree feedback frameworks to keep leadership accountable.
Authenticity is essential. If you don’t genuinely love your work, choose another career. I love my work so much that I’d do it for free, if I didn’t have bills to pay and food to put on the table. There’s no greater joy than seeing people be the best they can be. My mission for over 20 years has been simple: to engage, encourage, and equip others to be the best they can be.
I share with my son three principles: effort matters more than grades, dream big, and if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. These matter because effort beats talent over time, big dreams expand your horizons, and surrounding yourself with challengers accelerates growth.
My late father’s wisdom still guides me: if you’re not invited, don’t go; if you’ve not been told, don’t ask. And I live by Stephen Covey’s fifth habit: seek first to understand, then to be understood.
What human qualities are you looking for in talent?
We look for team fit alongside integrity, humility, curiosity, adaptability, and empathy. For senior roles, I always have dinner with candidates before deciding; it’s a way to see the “whole” person, not just their CV.
Our values and SLOW LIFE ethos guide us: Sustainable, Local, Organic, Wellness, Learning, Inspiring, Fun, Experiences. We hire for attitude where possible, knowing skills can be taught, though technical roles sometimes require specific expertise. Hiring for attitude is a work in progress as we address unconscious bias, but when we get it right, the results are exceptional.
What key measures are in place to enhance your company culture?
Host wellness is as important as guest happiness. We offer extensive wellbeing programmes at our resorts, and our Host food, nutritious and prepared by our own chefs, is second to none.
We are now “Great Place to Work®” accredited two years in a row, after many years of trying before I joined. GPTW measures trust, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie based on anonymous feedback. We also track internal KPIs on food, nutrition, wellbeing, accommodation, retention, time to hire, and other engagement metrics.
I launched an EDI Committee, which has increased diversity and inclusion, especially at operational levels, through celebratory events and thought-provoking initiatives. For me, this work is about turning values into lived experiences. As I’ve said in my Monday Mindset series on LinkedIn: “Culture isn’t built in meeting rooms; it’s built in the everyday moments when people feel valued, heard, and respected.”
Another of my beliefs is that “Wellbeing is not a perk, it’s the foundation your culture stands on; nurture your people, and they’ll build everything else.” That philosophy runs through every aspect of our Host experience, ensuring our values are not just words on a wall, but part of daily life at Soneva.
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