Meet Bridget Dutton, Distribution Administrator & Supervisor for WineWorks Marlborough Ltd and recent graduate of the New Zealand Certificate in Business (First Line Management) (Level 4)!
WineWorks Marlborough, a contract wine bottling, warehousing and distribution centre, is committed to supporting professional and self-development within their team. As part of this commitment, WineWorks Marlborough enrolled Bridget, along with four other team leaders, in NMIT’s New Zealand Certificate in Business (First Line Management) (Level 4). Needing a flexible learning option to work around their team’s professional and personal commitments, the WineWorks team completed their study online via the eCampus NZ platform.
Bridget was excited about this learning opportunity from the beginning.
“Just getting put forward gave me a sense of achievement,” says Bridget.
Having never studied online before, Bridget was a little nervous at the beginning of her learning journey.
“I last studied at university, so learning online was a completely new experience,” she says.
Determined to achieve the qualification, Bridget took it one step at a time, with constant encouragement from her husband and colleagues.
“If it was going to make me better as a person, why wouldn’t I take the opportunity?” she says.
Bridget found that the course content gave her confidence in her existing leadership skills and equipped her with tools to help her take the next step towards becoming an even more effective leader. She found learning about different leadership styles particularly beneficial.
“Before, I led with my gut and my heart,” says Bridget.
“The qualification helped me to understand what kind of leader I am and what that might mean for my team,” she continues.
Bridget also enjoyed the experience of learning with other members of the WineWorks team.
“It was amazing how much their support, and a little friendly competition, added to the experience,” she says.
Bridget acknowledges that the support of WineWorks has been instrumental in helping her reach her personal and professional goals.
“I’ve really appreciated their support. Their investment in us is amazing. There aren’t many workplaces who would do that.” She says.
She’s also quick to credit the support of her course facilitator, Melanie, for helping the team to succeed.
“Melanie’s ability to answer our questions in a way that made the content easy to understand really helped. She was brilliant,” she says.
But the overall highlight for Bridget was attending NMIT’s graduation ceremony with her family.
“My kids loved going to the graduation,” she says. “And they’re looking forward to the next one!”
They won’t have long to wait; Bridget is currently working towards the New Zealand Diploma in Business (Human Resource Management) (Level 5) with NMIT and eCampus NZ.
Congratulations, Bridget, and good luck with the next step on your learning journey!