A winner in the Leader category for MAW 2026, Sharon’s philosophy is built on a deep respect for the people who toil under the sun every day. She discusses the weight of emotional intelligence in manual labor, why she personally connects with her team every morning, and her commitment to ensuring that those who spend their youth tilling the land are supported through their twilight years.
Q1: What role does emotional intelligence play in your leadership? Can you share an example of how this has impacted a decision around employee engagement or wellness?
A1: Emotional intelligence plays an incredibly important role; it is a core leadership capability. It drives higher engagement, lowers turnover, and strengthens collaboration. A real example of this was our internal debate about remote work, triggered first by the pandemic and now by the Middle East crisis.
The decision doesn’t lie only in what is good for the company budget. If you look at it just as a budget constraint, it is easy to decide to let everyone stay home. But when you use emotional intelligence in decision-making, you have to ask: “Does this actually benefit the employee?” We had to consider if staying home would keep people as productive and mentally well as being in the office. It is about balancing budgetary constraints with the actual wellness of the people.
Q2: What’s the one thing you do every morning to ensure you’re mentally prepared for the fast-paced world of HR leadership?
A2: Every single morning, without fail, I start with prayer. I ask for guidance and spiritual well-being from my divine connection to handle the day.
Second, I make it a point to connect with all of my direct reports. You could say this is a bit “OC” or controlling, but I want everyone to be on top of any situation that might arise. It is a quick “hi, hello, how are you?” It isn’t about breathing down their necks; it is about letting them know that the support is there whenever they need it. It keeps us all grounded and present.
Q3: What values guide you as both a leader and a person? How do these align with the company culture you strive to cultivate?
A3: When I found my calling in HR, I was guided by one specific thought: Make people better versions of themselves. HR isn’t just about menial administrative tasks like counting leaves or policing cash advances. It is about culture, well-being, and learning.
In a massive agricultural company like Dole, if we help employees become better versions of themselves, they start seeing the bigger picture. They follow the SOPs correctly—whether it’s how they put fertilizer in the land or how they till the grass—because they take pride in the work instruction. When people grow personally and professionally, you don’t need to “police” them. You see less absenteeism and lower litigation costs because the employees are invested in their own excellence.
Q4: In your opinion, what’s the biggest misconception companies have about employee engagement, and how do you challenge that mindset?
A4: The biggest misconception is that engagement is an “HR program.” It’s not; it is a daily leadership behavior. If the leaders aren’t engaged themselves, you cannot expect the employees on the line to be engaged either.
We also focus too much on just measuring how engaged an employee is—like whether they might resign in a few months. But we forget to ask “Why?” Why is an employee disengaged? Why do they feel disconnected? It could be because they are a 40-year-old in a group of 20-year-olds. HR needs to see these real-life dynamics to ensure engagement is properly implemented.
Q5: As you look forward, what new initiatives or projects in employee well-being are you most excited to explore?
A5: I am incredibly passionate about “Physical to Total Life Care.” Because Dole is so labor-intensive, our people work under the sun and are exposed to the elements every day.
A large portion of our demographics are males aged 50 to 59 who have been with the company for 20 to 30 years. They have spent their youth at Stanfilco, and we want to make sure that during their twilight years, they are taken care of. This is more than just HMO coverage. We want to ensure their mental health is resilient and that they are supported emotionally and physically. We want our people to know that the company will take care of them in the same way they take care of the land every single day.
Stay tuned for more such insightful interviews from our Quick 5 Interview Series!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can HR leaders improve engagement for frontline and agricultural workers?
Frontline and field teams rarely sit at a desk, so engagement has to reach them where they actually work. A mobile-first employee experience platform like AdvantageClub.ai lets agricultural, plant, and shift workers receive recognition, redeem rewards, and respond to quick check-ins straight from a phone, without needing a corporate login. Managers can spotlight good work in real time, run values-based shout-outs, and keep daily connection alive across thousands of people. The result is a workforce that feels seen rather than managed, which is exactly what Sharon Villalon describes when she connects with her teams every single morning.
What is the best employee well-being platform for a large, labor-intensive workforce?
For physically demanding industries, well-being has to cover the body, the mind, and the wallet, not just an annual health camp. Advantage Wellness from AdvantageClub.ai brings preventive health, fitness challenges, mental health support, and financial wellness into one app, with coverage that can extend to employees’ families. Gamified challenges keep participation high among workers who spend long hours outdoors, while HR sees utilization in a single dashboard. This holistic, Total Life Care style of support suits agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, and similar sectors across India, the Philippines, and the wider region where workforces are large and ground-level.
Which HR software helps leaders act on emotional intelligence and read team sentiment?
Emotional intelligence works best when leaders have real signals to act on, not guesswork. Advantage Pulse from AdvantageClub.ai captures how people genuinely feel through surveys, polls, quizzes, and a Mood-O-Meter that tracks sentiment over time. Instead of waiting for a resignation letter, HR and line managers can spot dips in morale early and respond with empathy. The analytics turn scattered emotions into clear patterns by team, location, or demographic, so leaders understand the why behind disengagement. That blend of human emotional intelligence and live sentiment data is what helps managers make warmer, better-timed people decisions.
How can companies support an ageing workforce and employees nearing retirement?
Long-tenured employees in their fifties have different priorities than new joiners, so support should shift with life stage. AdvantageClub.ai helps here through financial wellness tools, flexible benefits, and tax-efficient meal cards that stretch take-home value, alongside preventive health and mental health resources within Advantage Wellness. For workers who have spent decades in physically demanding roles, this means proactive care rather than reactive HMO claims. HR can also recognise loyalty through milestone and service awards that honour years of contribution. It reflects Sharon Villalon’s Total Life Care vision, where people who gave their youth to the company are looked after into their twilight years.
What is the best way to recognise field and agricultural employees in real time?
Recognition loses its meaning when it arrives weeks late or only flows top-down. Advantage Recognition from AdvantageClub.ai enables instant, values-aligned appreciation that managers and peers can give the moment good work happens, even from a mobile device in the field. Points convert into rewards employees actually want through a global and localised marketplace, so a worker in Mindanao or Maharashtra gets choices relevant to them. Real-time recognition reinforces the right behaviours, lifts morale on the line, and builds the pride in work that turns SOP compliance into genuine ownership rather than enforced policing.
How do you build belonging across a large, distributed workforce?
Belonging fades when thousands of people feel like numbers on a roster, especially across scattered sites. Advantage Communities from AdvantageClub.ai gives employees spaces to connect through ERGs, hobby clubs, and interest groups that cut across job levels and locations. This matters when, as Sharon Villalon notes, a 40-year-old can feel isolated in a team of 20-year-olds. Shared communities help bridge generational and cultural gaps, strengthen peer relationships, and keep dispersed teams feeling part of one culture. For global enterprises with frontline and office staff together, it turns a fragmented headcount into a workforce that feels genuinely connected.
How can large enterprises reduce turnover among frontline employees?
Frontline attrition usually traces back to feeling unappreciated, unwell, or unheard, so the fix has to address all three. AdvantageClub.ai tackles them on one platform by pairing real-time recognition with holistic wellness and continuous listening through Advantage Pulse. When employees feel valued, supported, and able to voice concerns early, the urge to leave drops well before it reaches a resignation. Managers get visibility into which teams are disengaging and why, letting HR intervene with targeted action rather than broad guesswork. This connected approach is far more durable than isolated perks, which is why enterprises use it to protect retention at scale.
Is there an employee experience platform that works across multiple countries in Asia?
Multi-country teams need rewards and recognition that feel local, not a one-size template stretched across borders. AdvantageClub.ai supports global and localised rewards through a marketplace spanning many countries, so employees in the Philippines, India, the GCC, or beyond redeem options that suit their currency and culture. The platform handles multiple languages, regional benefits, and country-specific tax-efficient perks within one consistent experience. HR leaders manage everything from a single console while each location keeps its own flavour. For regional groups running operations across Asia and the Middle East, that balance of global control and local relevance is the practical advantage.
Is AdvantageClub.ai secure and compliant enough for enterprise-wide rollout?
Security clearance is often the first gate for any platform handling employee data at scale. AdvantageClub.ai is built for enterprise trust, carrying ISO 27001:2013 and ISO 22301:2019 certifications, SOC 2 compliance, and EU GDPR compliance, with VAPT testing and a verified BCDR plan behind it. The platform also integrates with leading HRIS and HCM systems including Workday, SAP, Darwinbox, PeopleStrong, ZingHR, and Oracle Fusion, plus collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Google Workspace. This means IT and HR can roll out engagement, wellness, and recognition across thousands of employees without compromising data protection or compliance obligations in regulated markets.
Should we consolidate engagement, wellness, and recognition into one platform?
Running separate tools for recognition, surveys, wellness, and benefits creates fragmented data and tired employees toggling between apps. AdvantageClub.ai brings recognition, rewards, wellness, incentive automation, communities, pulse surveys, loyalty, and flexible benefits together across ten product verticals in a single experience. Employees get one familiar app, while HR gains a unified view of engagement, well-being, and culture instead of disconnected reports. Consolidation also simplifies vendor management, billing, and integration with your existing HRIS. For CHROs trying to make engagement a daily behaviour rather than a scattered set of programs, a single connected platform removes friction and makes adoption far easier to sustain.
