Meet Jacqui Priestly – Our Learning & Development Expert!

How did you end up here? What is your professional background? 

I worked in recruitment for the procurement profession for seven years which gave me the opportunity to meet many talented people including our founders, Dan and Chris. I was lucky enough to join them in a relationship management role to help grow our brand and client base. I quickly carved out my niche in our learning and development service offering since I’ve always had such a passion for building the capability of teams and individuals.

How do you spend most of your days?

My days are varied, which is one of the things I love about my job! I get to spend my days with clients, our consulting team, the regional leads and the amazing learning and development and corporate services teams.

My days are split between building and managing capability development programs, working with clients to understand their needs, keeping our tailored eLearning projects on track and supporting all of our programs across the region.

What are you working on at the moment?

Since ArcBlue joined the Bain family, we’re looking at all our combined training materials to bring out the best of the best! I’m so excited for what is to come! I won’t say too much just now but watch this space 🙌

We’ve also really expanded our client base since joining Bain, so moving a lot of the offering into multiple languages and we’re delivering in all sorts of exciting locations.

What trends do you see in your work?

• The people shortage at the moment is making it really important to train and engage existing team members.
• Managers are structuring their capability programs by learning the baseline of knowledge in the team so we can target learning and development.
• The other really big trend we are seeing is to train team members to manage price increases.

What do you enjoy about working in consulting? 

The variety, working with clients to understand their current issues and helping to build the right solution for them.

What do you love best about procurement?

The impact procurement can make to the organisation when done well!

What are you currently trying to upskill in?  

I’m always looking to expand my knowledge and put my hand up for every project I can get! That way, I’m continuously learning through experience. I also am researching different business leadership courses to add to my skillset. Practicing what I preach around blended learning! Always good to have a balance between practical and formal training.

How long have you been at ArcBlue? What made you join us?  

ArcBlue was a really easy decision for me and I wanted to join long before I actually did. Having worked with Dan and Chris as a client for many years, I liked their authenticity, their passion and at the time I joined, ArcBlue was still emerging, which created lots and lots of opportunities for me to shape my own career.

What project has been the most fun / the meatiest to work on at ArcBlue?

We’ve tailored capability assessments for procurement in both NSW and WA government. Both were great opportunities to advance the tools we have but also work with some great clients in both locations.

What’s the reason you love to work at ArcBlue?  

The people, variety, the passion of the team and leaders, the clients I get to work with. I’m really enjoying the Bain link too – I love working with them and learning their ways of doing things.

What’s something not many people know about you?

I’m pretty much an open book!