Aminath Shaly, currently the Cluster HR Director for S Hotels and Resorts by Crossroads Maldives and an excom member of Maldives Association of Human Resource Professional (MAHRP) since 2018, lived her early years in Male’, away from home. The trials of growing up away from her family shaped her to be independent. At Ameeniya school, the first public school for girls in Maldives, she was sporty and actively participated in everything that came her way. These were the foundation for her persistent, hardworking personality and her passion for challenges that pushed her to excel in her career in Human Resource spanning almost 18 years and counting.
She completed an Advanced Diploma in Human Resources Management with ABE- UK (Level 6) while working and received the top student award. She also completed a Masters in Business Administration from Cardiff University, UK.
She has also won many prestigious awards which includes HR Minds 2017- Top Global 100, Most Influential 20016- Global HR 100 and 50 Most Talented HR Leaders 2017 & 2018.
Over the years, she has scouted and trained many HR staff in various positions with triumph. She also considers this one of her greatest achievements. Seeing the individuals, she had trained become managers and supervisors today, especially in reputed hotels, is in the list of her achievements in her career. Her role in MAHRP is to work with the excom committee to provide support and guidance in developing HR professionals in Maldives. She has greatly aided to the successes of the National HR Convention and Expo held by MAHRP by offering her expertise in the area of HR.
Shaly’s first job was as a telephone operator in Sun Island Resort in the year 1999. She was nervous and it was through her friends’ encouragement, by literally pushing her into the speedboat that took her to the resort, that her career in hotel industry began.
Next, in the year 2000, she began working as a receptionist at Meeru island resort and went onto become the HR assistant of the organization. It was at this time that Human Resource as a department was taking root in Maldivian tourism. She was trained and mentored by Paula Hughes, a respected HR professional. Shaly remained in this position for the next 3 years.
She continued working as a HR assistant in One and Only Kanuhuraa and was promoted to HR and Training officer within a period of another 3 years.
Her remarkable break came when she received the opportunity to work as the HR manager at Huvafenfushi and Dhoni Mighili by Per Aquum at the young age of 24, something which was unheard of at that time. Not many female leaders were working in the HR industry then and her job was something that she had to prove as deemed worthy of everyday. The disbelief of a local woman being the HR manager was evident, as many questioned her, who her HR manager was. She had come a long way since then.
Her journey at Huvafenfushi and Dhoni Mighili by Per Aquum led her to work in Universal Resorts for 6 years. In this journey, in addition to working in most of the resorts run by Universal Enterprises (Maldives) and its corporate head office, she got the opportunity to work in Dubai. During this time, she got to experience her very first pre-opening in Niyama Maldives. Later, she became more interested in pre-openings and thus worked in two pre-openings. One, as she joined Dusit Thani Maldives as HR and Government Relations Manager and second, as she joined TSMIC (Amilla and Finolhu) as the HR Director.
The latter was the most successful as well as the most challenging four years of her career. Also, this opportunity was very close to her heart as it was in Baa atoll, her home atoll. She also got the opportunity to work with the great leaders, Tom Mcloughlin & Mark Hehir, who had been acting as her mentors since 2006. Their support and guidance greatly contributed to her success as the HR manager. Also, the support of her friend Anyu and husband Lira greatly contributed to the success of her career as a whole in HR.
Working in a male dominant industry has been very challenging for her. Her story here is a testament to it, “I still remember a comment by one of my superiors when I was lined up for a promotion. He said what’s the point of promoting a young local girl who would get married and leave in a few months. This is the kind of attitudes and stereotype that I had to face. This gave me the push to break this stereotype.” When asked about how she overcame her adversities she replied, “I was fully committed, and worked hard to achieve my dream, which is where I am today.”
She took a six month break after her daughter was born. Since March 2018, she has been working as the HR Cluster Director of S Hotels and Resorts by Crossroads Maldives and she notes this as the biggest achievement in her career. When asked about the intricacies of the job, she explained as follows “A cluster role is responsible for more than one hotel or have many units. When you have one unit or hotel it’s easy to have one team. In a cluster role you may have different brands or hotels where you must equally invest your time with the teams which could be challenging sometimes. Need to wear the right hat at the right time!”
Shaly has a very impressive career and her relentlessness to move ahead in her career is far more impressive. Despite being lucky enough not to let anything set her back in her career, her strong work ethics and putting her career first attitude above anything else proved to be a bit of a setback. Shaly explains, “The biggest setback in my life became my career as I was too busy for everything else. But I am so grateful and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
Finally, her word of advice to those starting in the field of HR is, “Learn and learn as much as you can. Never forgot empathy and compassion as an HR person. Acknowledge the fact that you are dealing with people every day. This requires us to understand the person, the reason and the decision. It’s never a popularity contest but doing what is right and what is fair for both the employer and employee.”