Sonia McAllister is Thompsons Horticulture’s HR & Compliance Manager. Originally from the Eastern Bay Sonia has over 8 years HR Management experience moving to Gisborne to join the company in 2019.
Sonia holds a Business Degree majoring in Human Resource Management gained from Otago University and works as part of the Thompsons experienced Management Team looking after People and Health & Safety activities.
Sonia believes that the Horticulture Industry is the place to be and is excited about the development chances for new and existing industry experts. Sonia herself started in the industry in 2012 as an HR Coordinator with a workforce of 50 permanent and 200 seasonal staff and within two years joined the Management Team, and four years later managed a HR team of 6 and employing 80 permanent and up to 1000 seasonal staff. Sonia has experienced first-hand the opportunities that exist within the industry and strongly believes that with careful attraction and retention strategies, and fresh workforce planning people will enter and continue to enjoy growing beautiful Kiwifruit and Grapes!
She believes that the strong culture at Thompsons can have a significant impact on business outcomes and on the communities we work in and that this is achieved by asking, listening and learning with everyone in the business