Overview
Government work is essential yet humble — services are used constantly, yet recognized rarely. Showcasing and celebrating government services builds a foundation of community pride and creates a culture of service and professionalism.
Problem
Public trust in government remains low. Partisanship deadlocks Congress and family dinners. Social media’s toxicity on anything from public schools to the presidency stifles any fun these platforms used to bring.
When the world of public service feels like a sucking cesspool of anger, going into work each day, let alone trying something new, becomes difficult. This is why it is important to find joy if we are to build community pride, maintain essential services and retain the talented people who work in government.
Solution
Celebrating, showcasing, and finding joy in our communities brings happiness to government staff and community members, which allows us to refocus on the essential services that the government provides. Even the most hardened skeptic will see immediate benefits when we tell stories about the wonder, importance, and context behind local government services. Humanizing government reframes public service work to truly be for the people, with the people.
Context
The first step in finding community joy is in humanizing government.
Tell a story
Tell the stories behind the work.
Human interest stories abound in service departments. Programs like “Touch a Truck” or time-lapse construction videos take the exciting parts of major work and bring them to life.
Local media is stretched thin, so proactively send blurbs and photos. Work with bloggers to showcase resources and programs. Once you’ve put a human voice to government operations, tell a story about the critical work your agency is doing every day.
Many public services are out of sight, underground or only on-demand. Talking about critical services like clean water, safety, and economic development affirms their importance. Share a story about a process improvement that saved time and tax dollars. Or, share pictures about how excited kids are when a new playground opens.
Talk like a human
Language
Plain language humanizes government. Use words that you’d say over coffee with a friend. For example: “kids” instead of “youth.”
Culture
Use local and pop culture to make government work relevant. For example:
- Turn on Google news notifications or sentiment trackers to find out what’s happening locally.
- Tap into school pride and partner with mascots.
- Use government social media to share local interest stories.
Personality
Every employee has a connection to the community through their job. Introduce them via profiles that spotlight them and their work. This humanizes the people providing public services, while giving a professional snapshot of your employees.
Impact
Daily tasks can obstruct the larger mission. To spark joy internally, put work in a larger context. A budget analyst is not just populating spreadsheets — she’s managing funding for the new water tower. A library clerk isn’t just shelving books — he’s supporting youth literacy. Emphasize impact to stress the importance of routine tasks.
Have fun
Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL) celebrates “City Hall Selfie Day” every August so local governments can share their pride for public service. Participation is easy: just snap a picture in front of a local government building and share it with the hashtag #CityHallSelfie.
In 2022 #CityHallSelfie had more than 2.5 million social media impressions. It’s a reminder that finding joy in public service does not have to be time consuming or expensive. It can be as simple as a selfie to reframe community pride in the work we do.
There’s also a business case to spark joy. When community members believe in their local government, we increase volunteerism, trust, and support for initiatives.
Finding joy uplifts and retains talent. The days of working somewhere for 30 years are over. Employees job-hop, looking for positions and organizations that fit their lifestyle, interests, and mission. When we make work fun, we improve the likelihood that we can keep talent in our communities. This improves service delivery.
Mantras
- Spark community joy
- Always maintain only a joyful mind
Checklist
- Look outside — celebrate the whole community.
- Talk like a human — implement a plain language policy.
- Be a storyteller — explain why local services matter.
- Keep it simple — small efforts can spread big joy.
- Humanize staff — introduce employees and their work.
- Have fun — life is too short to get mired in bureaucracy.
Questions to ask
- Where are community conversations happening?
- What makes your community proud?
- What services are largely unknown yet critically important?
- Who are trusted messengers in the community? On staff?
- How is the community receiving information? What languages are they speaking? What channels are they using?
- What makes the community special?
