Communicating policy
Politics . SocietyCommunication takes place in all corners of society. Through the neighbour’s hedge, on Instagram direct and in ministries around the world. The Government Official, Asbjørn Jensen, experiences it every day when he goes to work in the finance department in The Ministry of Social Affairs of Denmark. But politics is a minefield and not everyone can get their way. At least that is what Asbjørn Jensen experiences, even when it’s not him drawing the political lines.
What do your daily working tasks consist of?
I think it’s a very broad spectrum of assignments. I work in an office regarding the economic side of the ministry, so I make the annual law of finance and in my team, we redirect funds. I think a lot of my tasks have a lot to do with communication. For an example am I answering citizen letters on behalf of the ministry, which is communication out of the ministry towards the citizens. Most of the communication I have in a normal day is internal to the ministry so for example communication with other officials.
What motivates you in your work?
I’m motivated to make things work in my organization and contribute to that the ministry can make the laws and make society work. My ministry supports that the government can make policies that work towards people in need, for an example people who are homeless, mentally ill or born with disabilities. My function kind of supports the whole ministry’s focus and I think that’s a great motivational factor for me.
What kind of communication do you use in your organization to reach people?
I know the ministry does a lot of communication on social media, such as Instagram LinkedIn, Facebook etc. to communicate to a broader audience. The social media team uses a lot of time describing the everyday work of the ministers, to visualize how they are constantly working to make progress. But besides that, I think a ministry naturally gets a lot of attention because it’s politics and there’s a lot of interest groups out there.
Why is it important to present the ministers the best possible way?
I think it’s because they’re politicians, and it’s very important to keep up the support of the government and the ministers because if they’re not popular, they will not be re-elected. The public support is the whole foundation of a government.
Have you ever experienced having to compromise with yourself in your work?
Yes, I think so. I sometimes find my work a little bit too stressful, to be honest. I think there is a bit too many assignments given compared to the time and the amount of people that we are in the organization, so sometimes I compromise myself on the quality of the work. Sometimes I also compromise on a more personal level because my well-being is sometimes being affected by the stressful work environment. So yeah, it happens, but it comes in waves.
Do you meet any feedback on your job specifically?
Some people think you’re just like a puppet, working for the government. I think there’s a lot of the unhappiness with the government that are portrayed in the government officials. So, in that way, I do also hear sometimes that we’re just a bunch of officials supporting the government and not really doing anything besides upholding a dictatorship or something crazy. But that is really the only critique I have gotten.
What consideration have you made whether they are right?
I don’t think they are right. I wish they would not see politics so black and white even though it’s often portrayed like that in the media. In reality it’s often one big mesh of compromises and choices that were taken years ago, that you just have to go with today and there are a lot of different interests and organizations to take into account. If they tried my job, they would know that there is a lot of dilemmas to consider and hard work to do.