CEO says key hire will help "reshape Better's people team" as it moves forward with IPO plan
Hot on the heels of its recent mass layoff, Better has hired Richard Benson-Armer (pictured) as chief people, performance, and culture officer.
In an email sent to Better employees reviewed by MPA, company CEO Vishal Garg said Benson-Armer will “join Better permanently” and helm its efforts to “reshape Better’s people team and its impact on the organization.”
Read more: Better.com layoffs: “I don’t understand how executives could allow it to be done so poorly - twice”
“As we move towards Better’s next phase as a public company, a key focus for our executive team is building a strong, collaborative culture and expanding our human resources function to support our teams and maintain an environment committed to fairness, respect and opportunity,” Garg wrote in the memo.
In his new role, Benson-Armer will develop the vision, strategy, and goals for the company’s people functions, with a focus on “serving all employees transparently, equitably, and in a service-oriented way.”
“Richard will also help us evaluate and reimagine our standards for performance, developing measurements to gauge the results of our various businesses and work with stakeholders to improve them,” Garg added. “Most importantly, Richard will help us create and protect a culture that will attract, build, motivate, and retain great team members.”
Benson-Armer brings more than 25 years of global leadership experience to the role. Before joining Better, he served as a senior partner at McKinsey and was chief strategy officer of the Thomson Corp. (now ThomsonReuters). He’s also currently a partner at US-based global investor Activant Capital.
