Merkle (www.merkle.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer relationship marketing (CRM) firm and the nation’s largest privately held agency, announces the appointment of Elizabeth (Libby) Barden to executive vice president and chief people officer. In this role, Barden will oversee Merkle’s corporate human resources function, value proposition, and capabilities, which span recruiting and on-boarding new staff; employee development and engagement; reward and recognition programs; performance management; and compensation and benefits.

“Merkle continues to expand rapidly, both organically and through acquisitions, and it must align its HR functions to enable effective change as it continues to evolve and grow,” said Barden. “I am really excited to join the Merkle community as we continue an aggressive growth trajectory and provide a high-quality, great place to work.”

Barden joined Merkle from Accenture, one of the world’s leading consulting companies, where she spent more than 20 years in a variety of senior level positions. Most recently, as the North America Area HR managing director, Barden was responsible for partnering with the executive leadership team to provide strategic direction and drive the people agenda/talent plan for the business, ensuring that the HR strategy properly reflected the business strategy. Prior to this role, Barden was the global management consulting HR managing director where she helped create a unique culture and value proposition within Accenture to drive growth in direct competition with strategic management consulting organizations.

“At Merkle, our employees are our brand and we hire smart, talented people who want to do great work together,” said David Williams, Merkle’s chairman and CEO. “Libby is a recognized industry leader with impressive leadership expertise. Adding her to our executive team will help us to advance in our direction of becoming one of the most admired and best-run companies in America.”