More About Gareth Preece
Name: Gareth Preece
Company Role: Managing Consultant
Q: What do you do at Cullen Scholefield?
A: I lead the consulting engagements with our clients. I work with clients to design the solutions that solve problems and help to create resilient and effective organisations.
Q: What are the values that drive you?
A: I am committed to helping organisations to solve real problems. Too many consultancies sell solutions they’ve created for problems they’ve identified. I believe in evidence-based management and evidence-based HR, identifying the real problem, not just the symptom and finding solutions that are most likely to work – not just the ones that are packaged well.
Q: What’s your background?
A: I started out running experiential team and management development programmes, using adventurous activities. I’ve also worked in organisational design and development in the public sector funding skills provision, Most recently I spent almost ten years, contracted through various companies including EY, as the Skills Specialist at the Department for International Trade. There I helped foreign-owned companies of all sizes address issues related to accessing talent – including training, skills, organisational design, recruitment, employment regulation and visas.
I completed my CIPD Professional Assessment of Competence with Cullen Scholefield. Im an Associate member of the Institute of Export and a Member of the Institute for Economic Development.
I am currently undertaking PhD research into skills development in new companies, based at De Montfort University.
Q: What is something that people in your industry have to deal with, that you would like to fix?
A: Short term business outcomes. The drive for quarterly (or even monthly) reporting provides no incentive to invest. Business leaders that are forced to report on such short cycles are not incentivised to choose strategic solutions. Productivity measures prevent the investment in apprentices and trainees, workforce planning rarely looks beyond the immediate operational need and succession planning is generally restricted to the highest levels in an organisation. Allowing people professionals to look to the future would open up a great many solutions to problems encountered today.
Q: What do you like about working at Cullen Scholefield?
A: The commitment to high quality, lasting relationships built on trust and delivering solutions that work for our clients.
Q: What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
A: I have a family and love exploring with them. I also enjoy cycling, climbing and running. However what I do when I’m not working is mostly academic reading and writing for my Ph.D…
Q: What is the title of your favourite book?
A: As I spend so much time reading for my studies, I tend to listen to audio books to relax, or when I’m running. I’m currently listening to Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, about a Mexican tribe, the Tarahumara, who are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world, but do so without modern running shoes etc.
Q: What sports team do you support?
A: I don’t follow football or rugby. I watch cycling. I don’t have a team I follow, but I was delighted when Geraint Thomas won the Tour de France last year – and the UCI World Cycling Championships are coming to Yorkshire this year.
