On the 30^th October 2010, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer stood up in the House of Commons and made an announcement of budgetary measures which, in the view of independent commentators, would lead to half a million people losing their jobs in the public* and private** sectors over the next 4 or 5 years. I would argue that there a three distinct groups crying out for skilled facilitation in helping to create a constructive future beyond these cuts – those poor souls out of a job, their colleagues and those leading their organisations.

The plan for the public sector cuts and the consequent impact on the private sector through much restricted spending power will unfold over the next half a decade. On the first site of course this is a blessing – the image of a million people slipping on their coats and heading home to consider how they will spend the rest of their lives is too frightening to contemplate. However the long drawn out nature of this situation is, in itself, likely to have painful consequences.

It is widely agreed that redundancy is one of the most difficult and stressful life events, with significant implications for the individual concerned, their family and community***. Whilst some resourceful individuals will rise to the challenge and bounce back in the way we hope. Many of course will thrive. However the consequence for others may be more severe and lead to poor physical and mental health, a sense of demoralisation, family breakdown, alcohol abuse and a host of other ills.

People judge risk in a number of ways, but generally they evaluate the likelihood of something happening and combine this with the negative effect on them if it does. Imagine that you are an employee in the many departments facing a reduction in workforce. How many redundancies would need to be announced for you to be genuinely anxious about your future? Let’s say that you work in a section employing 100 staff and maybe you hear that 2 are to be lost. You may look around, spot that some of your colleagues are approaching retirement, on long term sick or in some form of disciplinary action and feel pretty safe in your position. What about if it’s 10 people going? I suggest that this is a different proposition. Ten to one seems like relatively short odds if the implications are as serious as outlined above.

What happens if we agree with this principle that for every one job at risk, ten people are very anxious and extrapolate these figures across the board? It therefore means that 10 million people in the UK are fearful. With a total workforce of just over 29 million**** this means that more than a third of workers in the country are fearful for their position.

How will this play out in the workplace? Let’s briefly acknowledge the considerable loss of resource, much of it may have been very talented and loyal. For those remaining, no doubt there’ll be a degree of “away-from” motivation. Saddled with the extra responsibilities of those who have been “let go” the survivors will be glad that they have a job and maybe strive to perform to make sure that they are not in the front line for the next round. We all know the short term and sometimes resentful nature of such motivation and the danger of it turning into something more corrosive. The impact on performance and goodwill does not need to be exaggerated to be worrying.

What of the somewhat beleaguered leaders, writing letters of commiseration to the dismissed. I do not exaggerate when I report that level of painful wincing I have witnessed when managers in this situation are in the company of their staff. I recall one client expressed the feelings of many when she lifted her eyes to the roof and sighed “I didn’t come into this job to do this”.

I would claim that these people are the natural constituents of the facilitated group. Due to our ability to work with large groups, to focus on how people can get things done together and to promote that most creative of human activity – a conversation near the edge, that facilitation is well placed to play a significant role in this period of employment history.

How can facilitation help?

Facilitation’s most valuable contribution is the ability to help people have conversations about how to improve things – in this case between an organisation and it’s staff. Rarely has there been a time when this has been more urgently needed. Fearful, stretched employees, many of whom staggering from the effects of a redundancy process with its tendency to spread rumour, unwanted rivalry and ill-will towards their employer need help to go forward and create a happier work environment.

The only place to start is to build leadership resource. It’s a hard time for folks at the top. Nobody wants to lose a chunk of their staff and perhaps some colleagues. Dealing on a daily basis with the heartache and anger of those who have left and those who remain, is going to take its toll. Helping leaders identify what they have done well during this difficult period and helping then re-orientate themselves to what is to come, can take place in the boardroom, in dedicated formal and informal meetings aimed to restore confidence and colleague relationships which may have suffered.

We then need to spend some time acknowledging how difficult this has been and helping organisational leadership to do this. Facilitators are naturally inclined towards the future but if there’s a whiff that the pain people are feeling is not recognised, it’s going to be hard to move forward. We’ll need to reward the efforts of those who have kept the ship afloat, who have helped colleagues, gone the extra mile, just simply carrying on.

Once we have done this we need to set out a frame in which the conversation about the future takes place and this needs to reflect some very hard facts. To summarise, everyone is going to be expected to do more with less. As facilitators our hope is to energise and excite people about the possibilities before them and it would be disingenuous to do this without being clear about the challenge. Patience and resilience is required we confirm for people “this is the landscape” and ask “and how can we create a better future for ourselves, the company and our customers, service users and stakeholders?” It’ll take some pretty old-fashioned “blood and guts” to keep positive and focused. Change is likely to be hard one and we need to reassure ourselves with the words of French philosopher Joubert, “The mind’s direction is more important than its progress”.*****

Along the way we can help people notice the changes that will happen. Even in the grimmest of situations there is growth. Spotting renewal, pointing it out to others, discussing it and sharing it about may require some new habits from our clients but are in themselves qualities leading to healthy and sustainable organisations.

Sustaining Growth Through Stories

At all times we must invite our clients to hold a mirror up and help them notice what they are doing well. The future will be built on people’s resourcefulness and strengths. We must encourage new stories about the recovery. Small victories, gallant colleagueship, inclusive leadership, innovation and effort need to be rewarded by their place in the tale of the next decade. Remember, its gossip and rumour which drives communication in organisations. Let’s get to talking!

* “Spending Review: PwC comments on likely impact on local government”, Price Waterhouse Cooper: 20^th October 2010

** “Spending Review: Public spending squeeze will be painful for private sector over the next few years but should boost growth in the longer term”, Price Waterhouse Cooper: 20^th October 2010

*** “Working with Redundancy”: Graham Whitehead in Counselling at Work (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy), Winter 08/09

**** Office of National Statistics – October 2010

***** Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)

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