20 years of Francis at Fontys: always on the move

Francis Schroevers has been working at Fontys since 2001. She started as an administrative assistant at the training for surgery assistant and nurse anesthetist (People and Health) and developed into a functional administrator. 'That includes setting up an application optimally for students and colleagues and supporting colleagues in its use.'

Bachelor

Francis enjoyed working, but wanted more of a challenge and something new. 'I used to want to be an economics teacher. I also coached people in previous jobs. In short: I enjoyed helping people develop. I wanted to continue in that direction, at a higher level. That's why I decided to do a bachelor study: Learning and development in organizations, at the HAN. For four years, part-time, in addition to my job at Fontys. The HAN is the only hbo offering this course, so I had to shop outside Fontys.'

Support

Through her studies, Francis worked within Man and Health on a number of projects such as designing an onboarding program and a project on mental energy. She also participated in the Fontys-wide program Agile Professionals. That program developed a set of eight Fontys roles that help develop into agile professionals and also inspired Francis.

'These eight roles gave me insight into where my strengths lie and allowed me to choose the role in which I want to develop further. For me, for example, in the project on mental energy, that turned out to be the role of 'Liaison'. Mental energy is something that belongs to all of us. If you want to promote the mental energy of employees, you also need the managers and management to do so. We therefore consciously devoted time and attention to these stakeholders to create support and commitment among them.

Agile professional

Thanks to her studies, Francis now knows how adults in business learn and how she can contribute to that. Meanwhile, she found a new job, within Fontys, at Fontys ICT. 'I am now an educationalist and coach. Together with teachers, I look at how we can best organize education, for example with specific work forms, so that students can get the maximum return from their studies.'

Colleagues who feel that it is time for other work, but would like to stay at Fontys, would do well, according to Francis, to ask colleagues if they can come and talk and have a look. 'Fontys encourages internal mobility and offers plenty of support based on the conviction that changing jobs now and then fits completely within the philosophy of the agile professional.'