Shalvin Mani still holds the spirit of camaraderie in high regard, eight years into his role as Vomo Island Resort’s human resources manager. The 37-year-old does not regret stepping out of his comfort zone.
“I started with the Ministry of Labour as an assistant labour officer based in Ba looking after Ba, Tavua, Rakiraki for seven years, but I studied tourism back at USP so my fi eld was always tourism,” he said. “My dream was always to come and work on an island resort so when I found the opportunity I joined Vomo. It was a success.”
Mr Mani said the island work environment was relaxing. “Working for the ministry was a bit hard. We used to look after Ba, Tavua and Rakiraki. “You did your own driving to go back to do inspections and solve complaints, but here it’s a bit relaxed.”
Mr Mani said a lot had changed over the years at the resort. “New buildings have come up. When I started there were around 180 staff. Today, we have another 235 staff .” A significant memory for Mr Mani was working during the COVID-19 pandemic. “No one was terminated during COVID. Everyone was still at work. We were thankful to the board of directors because they provided support for the two years.
“Some of us were still locked down on the island. So, they were employed cleaning the island. Those who were at home they received weekly allowances as well.” Mr Mani said an average working day for him normally started around 8am until 5pm with the odd occasion when he sometimes worked beyond his hours to complete his tasks.
Despite this, Mr Mani said having a home away from home helped him cope with staying away from his family. “I’m OK with it. At first, it was a bit challenging. I would stay away from family and all but now I’m used to it. “You’ll see everyone is friendly towards each other, playful, and don’t hold grudges towards each other. We’re promoting more events with the church and all. We’re starting to involve all the staff.”
Mr Mani said a significant percentage of returning guests was a testament to the positive atmosphere fostered by staff on the island. “Today, we are 100 per cent full. All the villas are occupied and out of those 100 per cent, 48 per cent are returnees.” Mr Mani attributed this achievement to the attention to detail practiced by staff. “The wow factor is the staff . Every time they give comments they mention the staff.
“We’re trying to include everyone in the Vomo vuvale “Tourism has become the backbone of Fiji. You gain a lot of experience. You meet a lot of people everyday.”
Mr Mani said natural disasters and logistical issues were the main challenges on the island. “During national disasters, we have to stop the boat services, so we have to rush staff off the island as well.
“Logistics is a problem sometimes getting things on time to the island, but fortunately we have our own boats running every day and then three barges per week. Whatever is needed comes, but sometimes there’s a delay especially if it’s from overseas. We have to get a lot of things cleared through customs.” Mr Mani enjoys learning new ways of improving customer experiences for guests.
“It’s meeting new people, meeting new guests every day, but apart from that HR feels like helping staff out, solving their problem.
“If they come to us, not only on work-related issues, but they also come to us for their family related issues or something, I like helping them out, whatever we can do from our side.
