Over the past year I have spotted – I fear – a 7 stage process that many people will be going through in responding to the forthcoming government cuts.

It is something I shared with public sector and charity managers at a CIPFA event I spoke at this week in Manchester, just down the road from the TUC annual bash.

Most public bodies are facing severe budget reductions. How well staff, customers and other stakeholders cope will depend much on the quality of leadership in those organisations (as well as their unions and professional bodies). This, I would argue, is particularly bound up with keeping people informed, and getting them quickly to a point where they can make constructive contributions to change.

Here are the 7 stages I suspect many individuals (as well as groups and organisations) will find themselves going through:

1. Ignorance – Here people know there is a fiscal crisis but have not bothered themselves with the details
2. Denial – At this point, awareness increases about cuts, but there’s a belief that somehow it’s not going to affect them in any significant way
3. Shock – Here the reality hits: yes, this is coming their way and this is what it’s going to mean (and how severe it will be)
4. Special pleading – Now arguments are made by individuals, professions, service departments or entire organisations that they are a ‘special case’ and should be excluded from extreme cut backs
5. Anger – Once it sinks in that we’re all in this together, real anger begins – combined, no doubt, with a range of other emotional responses
6. Adjustment – By this stage people recognise they have to deal with the world the way it is and start to look constructively at how to respond. This will include contemplating some things that would have been unthinkable or unacceptable earlier on, including cutting services and jobs, remodelling the way services are delivered, entering into partnerships and outsourcing work
7. Action – At this stage tangible action is taken, change is implemented and various innovations are put into effect.

Two points are important here.

-          First, while people go through stages 1-5, time, energies and opportunities will be lost

-          Second, getting people quickly to stage 6 is the responsibility of the organisation’s leaders.

Looking at the media this week, I can’t help but feel that many people (particularly in certain unions and professional bodies) are being poorly served by their bosses in this regard. Certainly, making an argument about the value you provide is important. But this needs to be combined with an honest examination of the activities that really make a difference to users/customers.

The years ahead are going to be difficult, but unless politicians and senior managers help staff and other stakeholders to focus positively on addressing the new reality, action will be delayed, change will be harder and opportunities for innovation will be missed.