Latest news with #organizationalchange
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SC Johnson moving 170 employees to Racine area from Chicago for better collaboration
S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. is moving 170 employees to its Racine-area facilities from the company's Chicago office − a move it says will create better collaboration. The move will occur in phases by the end of 2026, the company announced July 15. No jobs are being eliminated. The shift is connected to organizational changes that took place 15 months ago, when SC Johnson established individual North America and international consumer brand business units. 'For almost 140 years, we've enjoyed being part of the Racine community, and proudly call it our home,' said Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO, in a statement. 'This is an important change for our business given some recent organizational changes, and we look forward to welcoming even more SCJ people to the Racine area," Johnson said. Employees will move into the former Educators Credit Union building, at 1326 Willow Road in Mount Pleasant, which the company bought in 2023. It's next to two other company facilities, and is near the Waxdale manufacturing facility. SC Johnson's longtime global headquarters remains in Racine, at 1525 Howe St. It is among the largest companies based in Wisconsin and has roughly 2,000 employees in Racine County. It makes such cleaning products as Windex, Pledge, Glade and Scrubbing Bubbles. The company will still operate a downtown Chicago office, with around 100 employees, along with a manufacturing site in the Pullman neighborhood. Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@ and followed on Instagram, Bluesky, X and article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: SC Johnson moving 170 employees to Racine area from Chicago
Fast Company
11-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
AI will kill the org chart
Every technological revolution brings with it management change. The rise of automation in the 1980s, for example, led to process reengineering (stripping out unnecessary steps to shorten timelines). Now with the dawn of AI, the next wave of organizational and leadership change is upon us. Ron Carucci, a consultant and researcher on leadership and organizations, and Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft's former chief people officer and its newly appointed EVP of the Office of Strategy and Transformation, have identified what they believe are four of the most fundamental shifts that leaders and organizations must consider to be future-ready. Paid subscribers will learn: How to redefine career progression by impact, not rank The most important trait that talent teams need to look for when hiring Why AI will render the org chart a thing of the past The three things Microsoft is looking for from every manager to train future leaders 1. From change management to change readiness Less than a decade ago, best practices in change management involved carefully structured communication and stakeholder plans, phased rollouts with meticulous timelines, and well-resourced implementation strategies. This approach was built on the assumption that leaders knew in advance both the changes they needed to make and the precise destination they wanted to reach. But today, change arrives so quickly that there is often no time to define a fixed endpoint—let alone build a road map to get there. The new reality requires a shift from managing change as a project to developing a culture where change-readiness is an everyday capability. To create this shift, leaders must first embrace a change-ready mindset—one that sees change as a continuous state rather than a series of isolated events. This means hiring and developing employees based on their ability to learn and adapt, not just their current expertise. At Microsoft, being a 'positive pivoter' means embracing change as the new norm instead of seeing it as a hardship. This means rewarding adaptability and resilience, shifting away from valuing stability—keeping things under 'control'—as the ultimate leadership virtue. Beyond mindset, leaders must also empower employees to actively drive change rather than passively waiting for direction. Rather than managing change top-down, leaders should coach employees to anticipate and shape it. This requires breaking down rigid structures and creating cross-functional teams that identify disruptions early and respond with agility. Finally, organizations must embed change as an everyday practice rather than a temporary initiative. Leaders should normalize experimentation and foster learning from failure. At Microsoft, leaders have been prepared for this under Satya Nadella, where challenging one's fixed mindset is a daily habit. For example, as Microsoft wrestled with how to win in AI, we had to challenge the fixed mindset that we had all the answers. When we shifted to a growth mindset we embraced the opportunity to bring in outside perspectives and ideas. In the last year we've added three new externally hired executives to Satya's leadership team to enable the push into AI. 2. From hierarchical leadership to agile networks In the past, organizations relied on well-defined hierarchies where leadership influence was dictated by reporting lines, and decision-making authority was concentrated at the top. This model created stability, but at the cost of agility, as decisions had to travel up and down a chain of command before action could be taken. In today's fast-moving environment this rigid structure has become a liability. The future demands a shift toward agile, networked leadership, where decision-making is based on expertise, not hierarchy, and teams dynamically form and reform to tackle challenges as they arise. To build this new model of leadership, organizations must move beyond traditional org charts to foster fluid, networked governance structures. One organization Ron consulted with, developed innovation hubs focused on specific product and customer segments. Each cross-functional group was assigned a specific innovation focus, given resources, and empowered to make 'go-no go' decisions on their projects right up until prelaunch. This dramatically reduced the time it took to complete projects because it eliminated relying on hierarchical decision-making for approvals. In one year, they increased their successful product launches by 46%. 3. From leadership as control to leadership as coaching For decades, leadership was synonymous with creating order from chaos. The assumption was that strong leadership meant exerting control over ambiguity. However, today, uncertainty is no longer an occasional disruption, but a constant state. Future-ready leaders must embrace uncertainty and develop coaching mindsets to help employees navigate complexity with confidence. This shift begins with redefining leadership as coaching rather than controlling. Replace rigid performance reviews with real-time feedback that drives continuous improvement. Balance accountability with empathy, ensuring that expectations remain high (with clear measurable goals) while employees feel psychologically safe to take risks, experiment, and grow. Microsoft has declared this year of intensified uncertainty and transformation as the 'year of the coach.' Microsoft has identified three competencies—model, coach, care—as foundational to managers at all levels. We've learned candid coaching is care. Role modeling what it means to give thoughtful, clear feedback as well as acknowledging personal shortfalls earns the permission to candidly coach. All people managers will have access to communities with tools and training to improve their coaching skills. They will also be able to exchange feedback. This will be particularly critical as AI agents become a regular part of managerial life. Managers will need to understand how to coach people to harness irreplaceable human assets like relationship building, empathy, and creativity. Equipping leaders with strong coaching skills is essential in this new paradigm. This means training managers to ask the right questions rather than simply providing answers. It also requires setting and exceeding the bar for meeting customers' evolving needs. 4. From status as power currency to contribution as impact currency In many organizations, career progression has long been tied to status, measured by titles, reporting structures, team size, and invitations to high-level meetings. Employees have traditionally viewed promotions as the primary means of increasing their impact. But in an era where speed, collaboration, and expertise matter over rank, the future of leadership must be based on influence and contribution, rather than job titles. To create this shift, companies must redefine career growth and progression by rewarding employees for impact rather than hierarchy. Instead of promotions being the primary way to acknowledge high performers, companies should design pathways where employees can expand their influence by leading initiatives, shaping critical decisions, and contributing to strategic problem-solving, regardless of their title. Leaders should invite those with relevant expertise into key discussions, regardless of rank. This also requires rewarding horizontal collaboration, where employees who bridge silos and drive cross-functional innovation are recognized and valued. In one organization transformation, Ron helped a global financial services company redesign how key leadership meetings were handled. Originally, the company invited attendees to the meeting based on their rank. In the new approach, each attendee was assigned a role with clear expectations. Afterwards, everyone in the room was expected to cascade key messages and decisions. This eliminated the entitlement that senior leaders often display when it's 'their turn' to join 'the important meetings.' Instead of, 'I deserve to be here because I'm a senior vice president,' leaders showed up with a broader understanding of how they could create success together. By centering contribution over hierarchy, organizations will create a culture where the most capable and impactful employees thrive, decision-making is faster, and leadership pipelines are built on merit rather than tenure. As the world of work continues to shift, leaders will do well to guide their organizations toward more adaptive structures that allow leadership to happen at all levels, and enable faster and more creative responses to market opportunities. It's time to leave behind outmoded approaches to leading and organizing human endeavors.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lululemon Is Cutting 150 Corporate Jobs
Lululemon Athletica Inc. is changing up part of its organizational structure, resulting in about 150 job cuts at its corporate headquarters. The impacted employees are part of the yoga-inspired apparel firm's store support centers. More from WWD Beyond Yoga Puts Lululemon and Athleta on Notice With Bigger Store Format Revenue Rises at Lululemon in Q1, CEO Calvin McDonald Bullish Despite Cautious U.S. Consumer Why TikTok Can't Stop Talking About Lululemon's 2-in-1 Dress and Its Styling Frenzy With Shoes: The $148 Debate, Explained 'As we continue to deliver on our strategy, we regularly assess our business operations to ensure we are well-positioned for the future. Following a recent review, we have decided to evolve some aspects of our organizational structure to operate with more agility and further invest in our growth,' a Lululemon company spokesperson said, confirming media reports of the layoffs. 'This is not a decision we made lightly, and we are committed to supporting our employees through this transition.' Despite first-quarter revenue gains, investors earlier this month were spooked when Lululemon chief executive officer Calvin McDonald warned that U.S. consumers were being more cautious in their spends. That sent shares of Lululemon down 22 percent to $258 in after-hours trading on June 5. Shares of the apparel firm have fallen further, and Wednesday's close was down 2.8 percent to $228.65. While the company did provide second-quarter guidance — net revenue in the range of $2.54 billion to $2.56 billion — and kept its top-line forecast for the year, Lululemon did cut its earnings per share to a range of $14.58 to $14.78, down from its earlier forecast of $14.95 to $15.15 in March. BMO analyst Simeon Siegel noted that the updated EPS forecast market the 'first' fiscal-year EPS lowering in the first quarter since fiscal-year 2014. 'We continue to see Lululemon as a strong, but overstretched, brand and worry about long-term domestic revenue sizing,' he said. UBS softlines analyst Jay Sole has shares of Lululemon at 'neutral.' 'A pivotal Lululemon question is if the slowdown in its U.S. business over the last 12-plus months has been temporary, driven by one-off factors, or a sign of something more fundamental. Our main takeaway from Lululemon's 1Q report is the likelihood that something more fundamental is at play has increased,' he wrote in a note. Sole also said the U.S. could slow down in the back half of this year due to the impact of tariffs on consumer spending, and he said that there's also risk that Lululemon's 'China sales growth rate decelerates, too.' This year, the company signed British race car driver Lewis Hamilton as brand ambassador, and in April teamed with the Professional Women's Hockey League for an inaugural collaboration that spotlighted fan-favorite Lululemon designs. Best of WWD Harvey Nichols Sees Sales Dip, Losses Widen in Year Marred by Closures Nike Logs $1.3 Billion Profit, But Supply Chain Issues Persist Zegna Shares Start Trading on New York Stock Exchange Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CBC
18-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Lululemon cutting 150 corporate jobs as athleisure brand braces for tariff impact
Vancouver-based apparel company Lululemon Athletica Inc. is cutting about 150 corporate jobs as part of changes to its organizational structure, the retailer said Wednesday. The affected employees are part of its store support centres, a spokesperson for the company told CBC News in a statement. "As we continue to deliver on our strategy, we regularly assess our business operations to ensure we are well-positioned for the future," the spokesperson said. "Following a recent review, we have decided to evolve some aspects of our organizational structure to operate with more agility and further invest in our growth." The move comes as U.S. President Donald Trump's global tariff war ripples through supply chains and dents bottom lines. Trump's tariffs have taken particular aim at China — a key market for Lululemon — and several Middle Eastern and Asian countries that are meccas for clothing manufacturers. The cuts appear "aimed at streamlining costs and improving efficiency — likely aided by productivity gains from [artificial intelligence] — amid growing consumer uncertainty," wrote Bloomberg Intelligence retail analysts Poonam Goyal and Sydney Goodman. "The move may also help preserve margins as the company navigates more cautious spending among shoppers," they wrote. The analysts note this latest round of layoffs follows others made in 2024, when Lululemon closed a U.S. distribution centre, and in 2023, when it discontinued its connected fitness product, Mirror. Price increases coming The company is planning strategic price increases as it deals with U.S. tariffs, and will pass some of the costs along to its customers, it said in its first-quarter financial results earlier this month. The price increases on products are expected to be modest and will only apply to a few Lululemon products. However, they reflect the lengths the business is having to go to shield itself from Trump's trade war and the pressure it's putting on consumer spending, chief financial officer Meghan Frank told analysts on a June 5 call. The retailer lowered its profit expectations for the full year, estimating a more pronounced impact from expected tariffs. The company said diluted earnings per share are now expected to be between $14.58 US and $14.78 US for the year, down from earlier guidance for a range of $14.95 US to $15.15 US. Lululemon shares have plunged almost 29 per cent since the company reported its first-quarter earnings.
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Are Your Attachments Crowding Out Your Aspirations?
. Let's face it, we live in a polarized, cynical world that leaves many people yearning for something better. They carry a nagging sense of unease, while not being confident about what 'something better' might look like. Award-winning psychologist and bestselling author Bob Rosen introduces a simple approach to mental freedom. He explains it in his new book DETACH: Ditch Your Baggage to Live a More Fulfilling Life. Rosen says people can become better versions of themselves by letting go of attachments that may be holding them back—attachments to the past, the future, control, perfection, success, pleasure, and other things that seem harmless until the attachment becomes all-consuming. So, how does one know when an attachment has become a negative thing? 'Healthy attachments with friends and family provide security and validation, while unhealthy ones act as mental baggage, keeping us stuck in dysfunctional patterns,' Rosen says. 'It's normal to reflect on past and future, but problems arise when we dwell on negative memories or excessive worries.' A natural follow-up question is then, how do the attachments Rosen lists affect people's willingness—and ability—to respond in a positive way to organizational change? Bob Rosen 'Self-aware CEOs recognize the link between personal growth and organizational change,' he says. 'The best leaders navigate human strategy effectively, while others get derailed by fear, control issues, and unhealthy attachments to outcomes. During transitions, leaders must foster hope and clarity rather than allowing emotional baggage to undermine morale, creativity, and performance. During change, you want people to feel excited and hopeful about the future, and clear about their responsibilities to move the ball forward.' If people are carrying too much baggage, Rosen says, they are unable to perform and reach their potential. What can leaders do to help their people successfully navigate change when they are firmly attached to stability and the status quo? 'Uncertainty is reality, yet some leaders cling to the illusion of stability,' Rosen says. 'Their attachment to security, past experiences, or lack of confidence impedes progress. Though people prefer stability, change is constant—every breath alters our world. We must teach teams to embrace uncertainty and vulnerability, which opens paths to innovation. Our brains naturally adapt to threats and learn continuously, but attachment keeps us locked in fear. Letting go is a healthy process that enables us to move forward.' What are the tip-offs that a person is operating from attachment versus aspiration? 'Our emotions signal whether we're operating from negative attachments or positive aspiration,' Rosen says. 'Pain, fear, and anger often indicate attachments requiring new learning—like perfectionism hindering progress during change. Conversely, positive emotions like hope, joy, and gratitude facilitate adaptation, improve wellbeing, and foster better decisions. When leaders embody these positive emotions, they inspire courage and commitment.' How can leaders help create and maintain an organizational culture in which people are proactively inclined to replace their unhealthful attachments with liberating aspirations? Rosen says organizations can't thrive when leaders harbor unhealthy attachments. 'Removing these barriers drives high performance. Replace destructive patterns with positive aspirations: detach from stability to embrace agility; from past grievances to forgiveness; from control to embracing vulnerability; from perfectionism to achieving excellence; from scarcity to abundance; and from self-absorption to generous relationships.' . Rosen says the secret of letting go of our attachments is to replace them with more powerful aspirations. He explains with a story shared Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target. 'Leaders who are mature recognize that they can't be perfect,' Cornell said. 'I was criticized for wanting to be perfect at an early stage of my career. I wanted to make sure I was completely buttoned up. One day, my old boss sat me down and said, 'Brian, you do great work, you have an amazing work ethic, and you're always organized. Everything is perfect and every word is thought out. But you should spend more time just being yourself, being genuine and staying approachable.'' Rosen says Cornell uses this lesson everyday as he leads Target through the storm clouds in today's disruptive business world. What are some practical exercises people can use to begin their detachment journey? Rosen suggests beginning the detachment journey with four steps: When someone is deliberately engaging in detachment, what are some of the tell-tale signs of progress? 'You will feel more joy in your life.,' Rosen says. 'Less worry and anxiety will bring more peace of mind. You will feel more freedom, allowing you to become the person you always wanted to be. You will feel less bogged down by the past, more comfortable with the future, and you will be able to distinguish what you can and cannot do. You will perform excellence without being shackled by being perfect. And you will accept yourself, have the capacity to be comfortable being uncomfortable as you learn, and you will feel a sense of gratitude. As a result, you will perform better.' In what ways does detachment differ from disengagement or apathy? Rosen says detachment doesn't mean disengagement. It's liberation to pursue what truly matters: wellbeing, relationships, community, democracy and the environment. 'Our anxious and polarized world (with 40+ million diagnosed anxiety disorders in the U.S.) leave many exhausted and yearning for better,' he says. 'Half the country feels abandoned, regardless of leadership. It is time for us to stop standing in the way of our own success, to confront our fears and attachments, and live a more fulfilling and prosperous life. The choice is ours.'
