How one single mother overcame adversity after choosing a business degree at MTU
Johanne Nevin of The Donkey Sanctuary, Liscarroll, Co. Cork, with donkey Jo Jo, who was named after her. Pictures by Larry Cummins
For one single mother, deciding to go back to education came with many challenges, but also proved to be one of the most rewarding moments of her life.
Johanne Nevin decided to return to education after never finishing university at the age of eighteen due to becoming a single mother.
During the pandemic, Johanne was let go from her job and felt it was the right time to make the move.
Johanne chose MTU to help her upskill and build her career, and chose to study the part-time Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management.
“I was late into education. I was a young single mother when I was eighteen, and due to this, I never finished university. When I was forty during Covid, I was let go, and I then decided to go back to MTU at that stage and get my undergraduate degree in HR. I always wanted to go. I used to be in people management before, and I liked the people aspect, so HR always kind of appealed to me.”
There were many challenges Johanne faced while studying; however, she praises MTU for their compassion for students and for helping them achieve their degree.
“Studying at night is hard; however, the blended delivery is brilliant. And MTU introduced that in 2020, more so because of the pandemic. And that made me stick it out, because I remember doing this course back in 2016, and I was driving up and down, and I dropped out after about six weeks. But with the online version, it alleviates the challenge of having to commute to college every evening."
"MTU is a fantastic university, and they're flexible. The cost of the course is something I found difficult and can be difficult for people returning to education; however, MTU offers flexibility, allowing some courses to be paid by module or semester. This can be helpful for people in low-income families to plan, instead of having to fork out all the money up front. MTU has something for every skillset, and I think they're diverse and inclusive."
Johanne’s current role is people team operations manager at The Donkey Sanctuary in Liscarroll; however, it was down to faith that she chose to apply for the job.
“I worked for a little while for a family member who had a business to get my foot in the door of HR and then I saw a job advertisement at The Donkey Sanctuary come up and then one day I was driving out to this shop and a Donkey Sanctuary van passed me and I said, this must be a sign.
“So, I applied for an advisor position, and I got that in 2021, and then I quickly progressed up to people team manager and then progressed on further to people team operations manager in the space of two or three years. I've had a good run in there in terms of promotion.”
There are many aspects of her learning at MTU that Johanne uses in her current role.
“The course covered things like health and safety, employment law, well-being and engagement, diversity and inclusion, data analytics and everything you could need for the world of work. The well-being and the engagement element of the course is what resonated with me, as well as learning about diversity and inclusion, given my background and the challenges that I faced. When I then started working in The Donkey Sanctuary, learning these skills carried into everything I did.”
Johanne used her knowledge and skills to create a wellbeing workshop at the sanctuary and has noticed a significant turnaround in staff since first introducing this initiative.
“There's a donkey welfare crisis in Ireland now, and given that that's the case, the ways of working for our staff have massively changed over the last few years, because we're operating at full capacity now. We can't take in any more donkeys like we used to before. Due to this, we have to work with the public to promote good rehoming and do more support work than taking them into our care indefinitely.
“Due to this, our staff has had to deal with some very traumatic experiences. They suffer a lot with symptoms of stress, compassion fatigue, you know, because of the duties of the role. So as I was in the role, I was starting to pick up on this, and because of the studies that I was doing and understanding mental health, I did a health needs assessment on our staff, and I looked at what they were suffering with.
"I then looked at the interventions I had to put in place to help alleviate that. So, this is how the whole well-being idea started for me. I needed to build resilience and coping skills in the workforce at The Donkey Sanctuary to give them the tools to deal with challenging situations.
“Between me and the other members of the senior leadership team, we put that support in place through like-minded peer groups or well-being initiatives. It's not just about well-being, it's about putting targeted health interventions in place to make sure your staff have the skills to do their job properly and to not suffer because of it.”
The feedback Johanne has received from staff has been incredible.
“Not only has there been a reduction in illness, sickness absence and stuff like that, but the buzz around the place is amazing. The well-being week is a time for all staff to get together and celebrate everything we've done during the year, but there's huge engagement every year in it.
"It cheers everybody up. We have mental health ambassadors. We offer external counselling to our staff. There's so much that goes on during the year, and we get so much feedback from men and women thanking us. For me, it's special when I see a group of men coming into a room to talk about their mental health, given that they don't usually, and it's kind of breaking that stigma. And so even if they don't say thanks after the fact that they've turned up, it says it all, you know.”
For all the amazing work that was carried out in The Doneky Sanctuary, they were awarded the CIPD 2024 Special Commendation Award. The award commended the work of The Donkey Sanctuary in how it supports its employees in difficult times. The annual CIPD Ireland HR Awards celebrate outstanding contributions within the Irish HR profession.
Following her amazing achievements since completing her Bachelor of Arts, Johanne has now decided to return to MTU to complete a Master of Arts in Human Resource Management and to build on her strong knowledge and expertise in this field.
Johanne’s lecturer, Caroline Conlon, programme co-ordinator for the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Human Resource Management, said: "The students already know the world of work is dynamic and demanding, which requires them to self-invest in their skills and professional tool kit.
"What is the essence of a professional person coming back to MTU? In a nutshell, it's the excitement and optimism in building a future career. MTU supports that goal by bringing together established and emerging HR leaders. The power of interdisciplinary teaching is not to be underestimated either.
"So, with that as the context, the MTU student benefits from interdisciplinary teaching, collaboration with industry and engaging in real-world assignments and projects. Programmes are designed to empower the HR students as the future voices in HR in Ireland and beyond."
Dr Breda Dwyer, head of the department of organisation and professional development, explained that the university sees many people returning to education, such as Johanne and at different stages in their lives.
“One of the key virtues of the Organisation and Professional Development Department is its close alignment with industry, where together with the staff in the department, we are continuously looking at.
"So, we're seeing more students coming back to us, and they're coming back either to take on a different career totally or to deepen the knowledge they have within their career, and that might mean that they take on a postgraduate certificate or postgraduate diploma or a master's in that area.
"Many of our programmes are offered on a part-time basis, which allows people to study and work at the same time. In the department, we have the agility and flexibility to respond quickly to the needs of industry, ensuring that we offer our students the current and future knowledge and skills required by them to allow them to advance their career opportunities."
Breda encourages students to reach out and engage with the lectures to get the most out of the course.
“Talk to the lecturers. Every lecturer at MTU is one hundred per cent focused on doing the best for and with their students. Reach out to the lecturer. Just talk to them.
"Show up in class, whether it's an online learning environment or a face to face environment, show up because it's through those conversations with your peers in the classroom and with the lecturers that will add a lot more to your learning experience and journey than you could ever do by just studying the books because that's where the real learning happens.”
The MTU Business Academy is a supportive hub in the Business faculty, focused on flexible and part-time programmes for professionals. These industry-focused courses offer those with ambition the opportunity to create a personalised learning experience that meets their specific needs.
For more information on MTU Business Academy, visit: www.mtubusinessacademy.ie
