There’s been a trend on TikTok called ‘put a finger down if…’ and it makes me think of public sector comms.
In the style of the video making someone puts a hand up and says to put a finger down if something specific has happened to you.
It’s a playground game commandeered for a real world challenge.
But the playground game for public sector comms right now feels a whole lot darker.
So, try this would you?
Put a finger down if… you’re feeling overworked?
The number of people I’ve spoken to who are trying to fit 12 things into the day is legion.
… underpaid?
Like the rest of the public sector, salaries have decreased in real terms. Recently, I saw a job that I had when I entered public sector comms in 2005 being advertised at exactly the same rate. The buying power of £31k back then was the equivalent to £52k today. That’s a 40 per cent drop.
… falling behind?
The pace of change has got faster. Think of these three 15-year cycles. If you started work in 1990, you’ll have seen the advent of the internet. If you started in 2005, you’ll have seen the advent of social media and if you started in 2020 you’ll have seen the rise in AI.
But when can you catch up?
In 2008, a network of like minded people pushed the envelope on social media but did so largely in their spare time at work and at home. This has evaporated now.
… as though you’ve had enough re-structures, thanks?
Ideally, a restructure can be a positive thing. But like ‘budget efficiencies’ it’s a phrase that has lost its sheen for people who’ve gone through it. I did one and it let to me leaving local government through choice which was absolutely fine by me. It enabled me to go freelance but I know not everyone is in that position.
… fed-up being abused online?
Either by name, job title or by association. There’s a bingo card that says ‘I pay your wages’, ‘jobsworth’, ‘lazy’ or ‘idle’. Austerity has seen 40 per cent cut – not efficiency saved – from local government budgets and Council Tax has drifted up. The target for people’s spleen has often been to go to the council’s social media account rather than to the ballot box.
… undervalued?
You’d not be alone if you were. There’s something unique about people thinking that anyone can do comms. Try telling town planners that it’s okay, there’s no need to write that committee report because you’ve already had a stab at it.
Good comms look so simple and effortless. So, maybe people can be forgiven into thinking that it’s all simple.
… feeling fed-up at being asked to sprinkle fairy dust, weave your magic or put out a clip art poster?
If you haven’t are you even a comms person?
… knackered?
There has been little lull since COVID and before that there was years of austerity. If you’re knackered you’re not alone.
Has it ever been harder?
The worst of COVID did for many people and many teams. Long hours and an uncertain future was hard. But the motivation to communicate to save lives had its own wind in its sails. Is it easier to communicate cuts when you’re already knackered? Maybe not.
But what is there to do?
Well, as an individual, you still have autonomy. You can join the flow of people leaving the public sector and when each one goes I feel slightly sad but also a feeling that they deserve something else. You can also join a union, too. As a member since 1993 of the NUJ I look at it as insurance policy.
As a team, this is where it can get interesting. There are some levers the team can push. It can actively learn and actively review what it does and does not do. I have a mental image of teams carrying boxes and when I’m suggesting doing something different in training it’s instead of rather than as well as.
How many fingers did you put down?