Ease Change From Get-Go.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)

Byline: ADELIA CELLINI LINECKER

4 Changing the way things are done at work is no easy task. Try doing things differently and you're likely to run into: "But why change? We've always done it this way."

Employees uneasy about change often hold a company back when it's trying to innovate or retool its operations in order to keep up with technology or the competition. But you can't let them, says Robert Myers, chief human resources officer at Reebok International and chairman-elect and secretary of the Human Resource Planning Society. All companies, he says, should learn how to effect successful culture change at the workplace to remain competitive.

"When markets change or a competitor tosses you a curveball, often you have no choice but to change the way you do things to survive," Myers said.

Myers, who was vice president of organization development and strategic change at Limited Brands, says that company is a good example of successful culture change. A few years ago the company became a vertically integrated retailer, designing and making its product.

Limited then became much more explicit about its values and what was expected of its officers.

"We referred to it as dual citizenship," he explained. "As vice president, you were both a citizen of your brand and a citizen of (Limited Brands). You had dual responsibilities."