Graham Zahoruiko is an expert in the field of change management. His natural talent for leading through tumultuous times has provided him with a foundation of skill, while his education and experience provide his work with more detail and nuance than others in his field.
As a boy scout he learned the importance of preparation and social responsibility, both of which are important in the field of change management. He graduated from Saint John’s Preparatory School and found a number of opportunities in business. These opportunities led him to begin pursuing his degree in Business Management in 1996. He did so while also co-founding Spaceweb Corporation, an IT Services firm. The growth of Graham Zahoruiko’s company under his management averaged 20% per quarter. He would graduate from Northeastern University in ‘98, and continue to develop Spaceweb for nearly a decade. His time with the company ended in 2005, when he established another company, Refresh Software Corporation. This software company experienced similarly quick growth.
The rapid growth of these companies required a great deal of focus on changing management styles – Small, medium and large companies have very different structures and needs, which Graham quickly became aware of. His detailed management allowed these companies to avoid faltering as they grew.
Graham Zahoruiko took this experience with him as he transitioned into more freeing and gratifying enterprise of consulting. GrowthXccelerated is the consulting firm that provided him with access to companies that required his aid. During his time with GrowthXccelerated he aided with the development of more than $200M in revenue at two companies alone.
Today, Graham is a leader with Organizational Effectiveness, Public Benefit Corporation. This company seeks to deliver project-based management consulting services for greater corporate shareholder wealth, public benefit and social responsibility. As a company, Organizational Effectiveness, Public Benefit Corporation focuses its advocacy efforts on disadvantaged families and children.
Outside of his work in consulting, Graham makes the time to do philanthropic work, as well as community service. He is particularly proud of his involvement with the 9/11 foundation which continues to support victims and families affected by the 9/11 tragedy.
Graham believes that family is among the most important things in life, and tries to live a life that his children can strive to emulate. And he makes sure that his work and personal life highlight his own personal values that he holds dear.
Three Steps (And Phases!) to Effective Change Management
Businesses today are always changing. Long gone are the days where a company is happy with chugging along in a stable success. Now, growth and development are not just a lofty goal, but a baseline ideal for any good business. But development into a larger, and hopefully more effective, scale is difficult and stressful. Growth requires a specific type of management for a company to process effectively and efficiently. Change management is a unique brand of management that operates during difficult transitions and seeks to ease the growing pains that accompany the issue of scaling a business.
Graham Zahoruiko understands that change management operates on three levels: the individual, the organizational, and the enterprise levels. Each of these has its own difficulties to face and overcome:
On an individual level, change management requires an understanding of why workers might struggle or resist changing their current methods or processes. Providing clear messaging, proper training, and providing workers with the tools needed for long-term success is all part of change management.
Organizational change management provides the entirety of an organization with the process to support hundreds, or even thousands, of employees by project-level steps and actions. Identifying larger groups of individuals who will be required to change the most is critical to an easy transition. This level of change management is built on the individual but spread across the organization.
Lastly, Enterprise change management is focused on long-term success within the organization’s industry. This level seeks to set up an organization to be flexible and capable of change management on its own, with the processes and ideas of change management built into the very structure. This allows organizations to react quickly to market changes, new technologies and changes strategies with minimal impact on productivity.
Graham Zahoruiko has been in the field of change management for decades, and he understands that the three phases of effective change management are: preparation, management, and reinforcement.
For long-term success, change management shouldn’t be rushed. Preparation for large-scale changes in structure and process should be well considered and thought out. When the plans are in place, it is critical to provide proper supervision and management while they are being implemented. Managing change here requires ensuring that all departments and individuals affected are in sync with the rest. Lastly, reinforcement of change requires close monitoring and frequent check-ins to ensure that any process change is being properly adhered to. To properly see the effectiveness of the change management, all steps of the process must have been taken.
Change management is critical to the success of any organization that seeks to scale itself, and without an effective leader in charge, Graham Zahoruiko believes that the change will lack focus and effectiveness. For ensuring long term success, effective management is necessary for any business that seeks to expand, restructure, or reorganize its operations.
