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To Maintain Success, Managers Must Learn to Direct Change

I have learned a lot about change in the past 11 months: how even though we often
resist what is new, we also have an enormous capacity to adapt, especially in times of
crisis.

By CAROL HYMOWITZ Wall St. Journal

The destruction of the World Trade Center last Sept. 11 forced my colleagues to
scatter to assorted temporary offices and learn to work together from distant locations.
In the immediate aftermath, a spirit of "we’re all in this together" took hold. Like
thousands of other employees displaced by the terrorist attacks, we cooperated more
than complained about such discomforts as elbow-to-elbow workspaces and long
commutes.

As months went by, there was more bickering about our dislocation and the personal
upheaval and uncertainty it caused. Yet by the time our old office was ready to be
occupied again, many of us realized we had grown fond of some of the changes we
had made.

In a temporary office that lacked cubicle partitions and office doors, private phone
conversations were impossible; but we had gotten to know each other better and
collaborated more frequently, becoming more tolerant of each other’s weaknesses and
strengths. Now we are asked to adapt again, moving back to our main office and
hoping to preserve the camaraderie we developed in our time away.

A chief challenge for executives these days is to respect their employees’ apprehension
about change while encouraging them to be flexible. Successful businesses, in
whatever industry, must continually harness new technology and venture into unfamiliar
global markets, embracing a philosophy of perpetual innovation.

This is most likely to occur if every employee acts as a change agent — identifying procedures that can enrich his or her most successful past
practices.

Still, executives must serve as the main role models for change, even if they are grappling with their own personal emotions about the
situation.

Julie Smolyansky took over as chief executive and treasurer of Lifeway Foods, a Morton Grove, Ill., manufacturer of kefir, a yogurtlike
product, the day after her father, company founder Michael Smolyansky, died of a heart attack in June at the age of 55.

"It was very hard to show up at the office that first week, but I wanted to assure everyone that they were safe and we were continuing," says
the 27-year-old Ms. Smolyansky, who had worked as Lifeway’s director of sales and marketing.

None of the company’s 55 employees has left since she took over, she says.

She is drawing on strengths built since she joined Lifeway five years ago. She suggested launching the company’s first national advertising and
public-relations campaigns, as well as a new line of soy-based products, that helped to double the company’s annual revenue to about $12
million.

She also is motivated by the knowledge that her father, who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia in 1975, wanted her to succeed him.
"Continuing his legacy is the best way to honor him," she says.

Rather than being thrust into change, Larry Johnston, chief executive of Albertson’s, has used the benefits of change as a tool ever since he
took over the big Boise, Idaho, food and drug retailer 16 months ago.

He has restructured the company, closing hundreds of underperforming stores and cutting 30,000 jobs to reduce staff to 200,000. He told
employees, "We need to shrink the company in order to grow."

But he also recognized that his actions frightened people. "I was the new tough guy they felt they were going to have to audition for to keep
their jobs," he says, "and one of my biggest challenges was stabilizing their apprehension and making them understand the changes were a
good thing for them, too."

He praised employees every time someone made a cost-saving suggestion, or when the company reached target numbers. "Every time you
publicize a win, you get momentum," he says.

He also brought in new senior management, including several women. "The more diverse your team, the more accepting your employees will
be of change because they’ll follow people who are like them," he says.

Above all, he believes good communication is central to success. "You have to give out your e-mail and your phone number, and hold town
meetings, to let people ask tough questions," he says.

"Employees usually see when a company needs to change," he adds, "but they also need to be led."

E-mail comments to [email protected]. To see other recent columns, go to CareerJournal.com.

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