It seems like the tide is turning in Canada, and more senior executives in the public service are expressing an interest in social media of all types.
Being a cautious species, many are experimenting behind the firewall, with Deputy Ministers setting up blogs to speak with their employees, and departments using wikis to revitalize their intranet.
Over the next year or so, this trend will accelerate - and managers will find themselves facing a staffing crunch.
That’s right. I think we all agree that social media demands a flexible skil lset, capable of interpreting organizational priorities, incorporating communications goals and acting as a strategic advisor on engagement and consultation
Social media strategists also need to have a sense of experimentation and an appetite for risk - in tools, tactics and strategy.
That’s not a combination easily found in the public service.
I can see a point - not too far in the future - when communications branches will be identifying the social media strategist as a valuable and high profile position in the branch.
It will be a transitional appointment, where young and upcoming strategists will be given the opportunity to bridge the world of traditional policy development and innovative communications.
It will be a recruiting tool and a staff retention strategy - to prevent the bleeding of otherwise interesting and stimulating staff in the communications branch.
These strategists will have to navigate the world of information technology, strategic communications planning and reassuring senior management - a skill set that will prepare them well for larger horizontal files and wide-ranging projects.
As we begin to see concrete and measurable results from government experiments in social media, these multi-faceted communications strategists will find more doors open to them at more senior levels of the bureaucracy.
The question is, will they want to move on?
