Dive Brief:
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Menswear e-retailer Bonobos has tapped Sarah Patterson to be the company’s first chief people officer to help scale the company's team culture. Bonobos has 320 employees, and is growing.
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Patterson has had a variety of human resources roles at several companies, most recently at the Tribune Media Company and previously at Condé Nast and Gilt Groupe.
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The move comes with founder Andy Dunn back at the helm after briefly stepping down as CEO and at a time of fast-moving growth for the company.
Dive Insight:
Bonobos’s hiring of its first CPO and its aborted attempt at a new CEO are related—former Coach retail chief Francine Della Badia stepped down from her post as CEO of Bonobos after less than three months at the job upon realizing that the company and its team still needed (and expected) guidance from Dunn.
Sarah Lawson at Fast Company paints a clear picture of a swiftly growing company that outgrew is spontaneous approach to human resources, one that is determined to do well by both its both customers and its employees.
"[Digitally native] brands are so much more conversational and social in nature. And in both the online and the offline pieces, you've got such a direct touchpoint. That's where Sara's work becomes so critical," Dunn told Fast Company. "We've talked for a few years about this mission of 'being the most-loved clothing company of all time—no, seriously,' and we add the 'no, seriously' as a little bit of a nod to a sense of humor. But we're actually trying to see if we can build that on both sides—both on the customer side and the employee side."