Levi's CEO fired more than half of his execs during his first 18 months in the role and regrets not letting go of some staff more quickly

• Levi's boss Charles Bergh has discussed his hiring and firing strategy at the company.
• Bergh became CEO of Levi's in 2011 at a time when sales and brand loyalty were faltering.

The CEO of Levi Strauss & Co said he took a hardline approach when it came to firing people.

Charles Bergh, also known as Chip Bergh, made the comments about his recruitment strategy in an interview with CNBC's Christine Tan. He also spoke about his leadership style and some of his biggest regrets at the renowned denim company.

Bergh became president and CEO of the company in 2011 when sales were faltering and brand loyalty was fading.

He told Tan that he realized on his second day in the job that the best way to transform the company was to fire more than half of his executives.

"The easiest way to change the culture is to change the people. I had 11 direct reports and in the first 18 months, nine of them were gone," Bergh said.

Although he had a tough stance on firing, Bergh said that there were still times when he didn't act quickly enough to remove people who weren't the right fit.

When asked about his biggest regrets, Bergh replied: "This is a corny saying and it gets said a lot, but probably not exiting people soon enough when I knew that there was something not right."

Bergh said that not moving really talented people ahead fast enough was among his other regrets. "We have lost people who I regret that we lost. At the end of the day, it's a people game," he added.

Bergh's actions appeared to have paid off because the company reported an 8% annual revenue growth in 2017 — its highest in a decade. It had reported 3% growth the previous year. The company went on to deliver 14% revenue growth in 2018, its highest in more than 25 years.

After reigning over the denim brand for over a decade, Bergh is stepping down next year and will be succeeded by Kohl's former CEO Michelle Gass, who Bergh played a key role in hiring.

"She took Kohl's digital business, their e-commerce business from a billion dollars to six billion dollars in ten years," Bergh said about his successor in the interview. "She changed Kohl's, made them a digitally savvy company, and so she's going to bring that to the party as well and that's a huge opportunity."