Fashion, Sustainability, Business The Reformation Internship Program

Impactful. Educational. Inspirational. | #JoinTheReformation

The Internship: Overview

❖ The Ref Internship Program* is comprised of top talent at top institutions. We help

students and recent grads find their niche in fashion while doing critical work for our

company, customers, and our environment. Ref interns work and grow in one of the

most exciting companies in our industry.

➢ Functional areas offered: finance, merchandising, marketing, supply chain operations, business

development, people operations and culture, and as needed

➢ Timeline: Two 12-week cycles each year, starting in January and June

➢ Benefits to us: High quality talent pipeline; increased positive brand awareness

Our internships are second to none in the industry

*The Ref Internship Program is separate from the 2-year Apprentice Program

Our program is impactful, educational, and inspirational

❖ Within our company, The Internship Program:➢ Promotes process efficiency by having a clear structure, timeline, and outcomes

➢ Demonstrates transparency across our teams by standardizing the entire program

➢ Ensures we have a consistent philosophy for interns across departments

❖ Outside our company, The Internship Program:➢ Builds Reformation’s brand as an “employer of choice” among top students and grads

➢ Recruits top talent to build a viable pipeline for full-time hiring

➢ Advances Reformation’s greater mission of sustainability in the industry

impactfulinspirationaleducational

Ref internships build talent pipeline, affect bottom line

❖ Ref Interns provide a rich talent pool for filling full-time positions

❖ Ref Internships act as trials to see what prospective hires can do

❖ We recruit both current students and recent grads for tech and non-tech roles from

a wide range of backgrounds and experiences because diversity is key to Ref’s

business growth.➢ “By correlating diversity in leadership with market outcomes as reported by respondents, we learned that companies

with 2-D diversity (companies whose leaders exhibit at least three inherent and three acquired diversity traits)

out-innovate and out-perform others. Employees at these companies are 45% likelier to report that their firm’s market

share grew over the previous year and 70% likelier to report that the firm captured a new market.”

~ How Diversity Can Drive Innovation, Harvard Business Review, 2013

We recruit the top students from the top universities

❖ With constrained resources, it is important that Ref recruits interns from places

where we have historically seen success: our trusted universities

❖ Our recruits are:➢ Socially conscious

➢ Top performers

➢ Creative and driven

➢ Out-going and open-minded

➢ Independent and fun!

❖ Our recruits are interested in:➢ Marketing, finance, merchandising, customer support, business development, people

operations and culture, supply chain

➢ ...and have interests outside of work that we find fascinating and that enrich our culture

Our recruiting process is kind of like dating

We COURT them (pre-offer)

Give them BUTTERFLIES (offer)

Make it OFFICIAL (first weeks)

*Borrowed from Kim Carlson’s “Reform School” Onboarding Plan

The Internship: Structure

Our program is structured across all departments

❖ A common structure helps maintain consistency of process inside the company and

branding outside of the company➢ Standard process for requesting an intern promotes ease and clarity

➢ Strict timelines will ensure we gain the right talent at the optimal time

➢ Clear ownership will increase accountability and streamline processes

Managers make a compelling case for an intern

❖ Simple proposal form (Managers)➢ Logistics (timeline, department, etc)

➢ Specification for type of intern (undergrad, MBA, tech-specific, etc)

➢ Rationale for why there is a need for an intern

➢ Potential projects that are mission-critical and can be completed in 10-12 weeks of time

❖ Decision-makers (Exec Team)➢ Review all proposals

➢ Determine need and funding

➢ Make final decisions

❖ Application Opens (Talent Acquisition Partner)➢ TAP owns the recruiting and hiring processes

A standard recruiting and hiring timeline promotes consistency

*Summer timeline mirrors top Undergrad/MBA programs’ fashion/retail recruiting; Winter timeline mirrors recruiting for Dec graduates

Milestone Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct

Proposals due for SUMMER interns

Decisions for SUMMER hires extended

Application cycle for SUMMER class

Interview cycle for SUMMER class

Offers extended for SUMMER class

Offers accepted for SUMMER class

SUMMER class in session

Proposals due for WINTER interns

Decisions for WINTER hires extended

Application cycle for WINTER class

Interview cycle for WINTER class

Offers extended for WINTER class

Offers accepted for WINTER class

WINTER class in session

Our Ref staff owns each step of the hiring process

❖ Recruiting Process➢ Owner(s): Talent Acquisition Partner

➢ Rationale: TAP is a SME in talent acquisition; has led the program informally thus far

❖ Interview Process➢ Owner(s): Talent Acquisition Partner; Managers requesting an intern

➢ Rationale: TAP is a SME in interviewing; Managers meet candidates early in process

❖ Offers Extended/Accepted➢ Owner(s): Talent Acquisition Partner, in consultation with CEO and Managers

➢ Rationale: TAP is a SME in this process; CEO/ Managers support compensation, start dates

The Internship: Experience

❖ Ref interns go through “Reform School”

❖ RefBud assigned to help intern assimilate to new working environment

❖ Introduction at RefTalk or other company-wide for

❖ Ref interns have time with their teams

Ref Interns begin their time here like full-time hires

Ref Interns seek out the internship for its quality

❖ The Ref Internship is: ➢ Impactful

➢ Educational

➢ Inspirational

educationalinspirationalimpactful

The Ref Intern experience is impactful

❖ Interns own a major mission-critical project ➢ Frequent progress-monitoring in form of weekly 1:1s and check-ins with manager

➢ Final presentation to senior leadership

❖ Interns feel that their work is impacting the larger Ref mission

❖ Interns feel welcomed on their teams and valued for their expertise ➢ Ref interns sit with their teams, attend all meetings, and are integrated into all aspects of the team

The Ref Intern experience is educational

❖ Friday “brown bag” lunches with senior leadership

❖ Ongoing professional development, informally and formally

❖ Frequent, timely, relevant feedback from manager➢ Manager has three major checkpoints with Ref intern (in addition to informal check-ins)

➢ Manager allows intern to drive and own experience

➢ Constant reflection and improvement throughout the summer

The Ref Intern experience is inspirational

❖ Ref seen as an “employer of choice”

❖ Increased investment in Ref’s sustainability mission

❖ Motivated to spread the message of Ref’s mission

❖ Energized to do work with purpose and impact

❖ Encouraged by senior leaders:➢ One-on-one meetings and coffee chats

➢ Three outings over 10-12 weeks (start, middle, end) with senior leadership

➢ Fun, Fun, Fun...because we are Ref!

Final Point: We do not mislead our interns

❖ No mention upfront about guaranteed “intern-to-hire” ➢ Instead, full-time offers are discussed among senior leaders, prepared by end of internship

❖ Clear start and end dates help to set expectations

❖ No (negative) surprises➢ Our interns get to work on their projects in the first few days

➢ Entire schedule is communicated before start of internship

We want interns to...