Quick 5 Interview with Swiss Beauty Cosmetics’ Timsy Kohli
Team AdvantageClub.ai
February 10, 2026
With employees seeking more meaning, flexibility, and personalization, and with technology and AI changing how we connect at work, organizations are facing a whole new level of challenges.
In this Quick 5 Interview series, Timsy Kohli, Chief People Officer at Swiss Beauty, reflects on her journey as an HR leader, the legacy she wants to leave behind, and her vision for the future of work. Her focus on compassion, and authenticity in leadership shapes how she builds culture, recognition, and employee experiences. From moving beyond transactional policies to creating purpose-driven and personalized employee touchpoints, she highlights how engagement must evolve into meaningful, relational connections.
Here is the excerpt from the candid conversation with Timsy Kohli, an HR transformation leader with over two decades of experience in shaping culture, talent, and organizational growth. She is passionate about creating inclusive workplaces, driving high performance, and integrating well-being into business strategy. With a strong focus on the future of work, she inspires organizations to embrace change with empathy, innovation, and purpose.
She is also a winner of AdvantageClub.ai’s Most Admired Women Award 2025 in the Leader category.
Read below
Q1. Who or what has been your biggest source of inspiration throughout your career, and how does that influence how you lead your team today?
A1. So there have been a lot of leaders I’ve worked with in the past who have been a source of inspiration. But leaders who bring or combine strategic vision with genuine empathy and inclusivity are the leaders that I really look up to. And because these are the kind of leaders who not only drive performance, but also focus on how you make people feel along the way.
And that is a very important aspect for me as a person also. I believe in creating spaces where people feel valued, their voices are heard, and where people and business thrive together.
And I think it goes further to being compassionate. As a person, I bring that a lot into my conversations with people, and the internal communication that we do with people and the policies that we create, we keep people in mind, and then create policies. There’s a saying, “You take care of your people and people will take care of your business.” So, you know, that’s the focus.
Q2. You’ve had a remarkable journey in HR leadership. Looking back, how has the evolution of employee experience shaped your approach to rewards, recognition, and culture-building?
A2. So, employee experience today has shifted from being policy-driven to, I would say, purpose-driven; from being transactional, it has become more holistic.
Experience is not just limited to when you’re interviewing the person; it is also about how you carry forward that experience in all employee touch points, be it onboarding, interaction, internal communication, while giving and sharing feedback, how employees experience culture, even beyond exit as well.
Today, R&R and employee experience should be more meaningful, personalized, aligned with the culture. I personally ensure that I create experiences that people don’t forget. It involves not only celebrating performance, but also celebrating their authentic selves, as to who they are, helping them feel valued and belonging is more important.
Q3. In today’s dynamic workplace, how do you see personalization redefining the way we approach employee engagement?
A3. Well, personalization has become the new currency of engagement. At every touch point, we want to personalize the experience with respect to reward and recognition, be it giving personalized feedback to somebody, be it crafting career opportunities, or a growth path for your people. You know, today, all of us seek experiences and recognition that resonates with our personal aspirations and contributions, which are unique to us. And that’s how it becomes meaningful to me.
So when companies start doing that, I think the organization starts moving from being transactional to relational. And that’s where you want to build a connection. It not only helps drive the motivation, but it also strengthens employee connection with the company, where they are seen and they feel more aligned with the purpose.
It is similar to crafting KRAs for your people. Right. It is personalized for everybody. So, of course, feedback also has to be personalized. So, yes, personalization is the key. And the more I feel resonated with what I’m getting, I will feel more aligned.
Q4. As AI redefines industries, how do you see it revolutionizing employee engagement and recognition? What long-term impact do you foresee on culture-building as recognition becomes automated and data-driven?
A4. Well, AI is a game-changer for employee engagement, for HR, as it makes recognition more timely, more relevant, more inclusive, and bias-free across all levels of the organization. But I would say technology is not just the answer. If AI is not blended with personalization and human empathy, it will lose its significance.
What I’m trying to say is that while giving recognition, leaders must add their warmth of authenticity or their personalization in the recognition that they are going to add more value to what they want to create for the person. So AI is great. It is making things easy for us, but adding a warmth of authenticity from the leader’s point of view, while giving recognition becomes imperative. Otherwise, it will lose its significance in the long term.
Q5. What is one legacy you hope to leave, and how do you plan to build a sustainable future for both employees and the organization?
A5. There’s so much happening already. But I think the biggest shift we see, already emerging, is the blended, multi-generational workplace with baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z, and there’s so much happening. And along with all of this, the nature of work itself is evolving, right? We are blending it with AI. It’s just not a hybrid, or it’s just not going to the office. It’s just not remote work.
For me, sustainability is about agility, it’s about experience, it’s about the connection that you build. It’s about innovation, where fear of failure is not there, where there is continuous learning, which means where curiosity and growth never stop.
And finally, I would say that keeping that humanness in the DNA of the organization is something that I want to leave with. And that is what sustainability means to me.
Conclusion
Talking about what the future of HR holds, Timsy believes that technology brings inclusivity and efficiency, but it cannot replace the warmth of human authenticity, which is indispensable for building sustainable workplaces where people and businesses thrive together.
We have many more such interesting conversations lined up for you. Stay tuned!
