Keeping up with social media trends - RSPB set to recruit £30,000-per-annum TikTok executive

Frankly, I'd rather they did something like this than to endlessly recruit more and more salespeople to pounce on visitors the minute they set foot on an RSPB reserve. They are certainly correct in saying they need to appeal to young people.

I do agree. At lots of reserves I see staff and volunteers doing the hard sell to non-members. Which I don’t agree with at all. I am pleased they are getting some individuals hopefully worth the money to pay them. Also I don’t like the way that some wildlife Conservation organisations are hiring some on zero hour contracts. I really could really say something more strongly on how I feel about that. But the words on how I feel about thar subject wouldn’t be allowed on this forum. The National Trust do the hard sell to any non-members as well. Now the much smaller conservation charity WWT and at my local Wildfowl Trust reserve in North East England there is no pressure or hard sell to any non-members biting. They will be helped about the various parts of the reserve as well as any special events on the same day day as their visit and if they like their visit they could consider joining. After that no hard sell or push to join the WWT and everyone is so friendly and most of the local members who visit know all of the staff and the volunteers at least at my local WWT reserve. Completely different in which the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust works, at least at Washington Wetland in Tyne and Wear near to where I live which is not in Washington.. Also I noticed the  way the National Trust staff and volunteers at one of the local National Trust properties in North East England when I was a young lad just in to my 20’s in the 1970’s and had been a member of the National Trust for a few years and the staff meeting members of the public who where not National Trust members being friendly with any member of the public who wasn’t a member of the National Trust and when a member of staff or volunteers started talking about how such and such a place was fantastic etc going on and on and slowly but sure would get on to the subject of becoming a member and then the presure would start. And all that member of the public wants to do is pay the entrance charge and look around the gardens or country house if they show wish. I joined the National Trust mainly for the open countryside and coastline not for the big country house with large gardens and estates. My love of the Lake District Fells in particularly as when I  first visited Cumbria’s Lake District in the 1950’s and 1960’s before the large of motorways where built it was so quiet even in August. But with the advent of the building of the motorways and particularly the M6 which make the Lake District so easily accessible by car. And now because of the millions visiting the Lake District and the erosion of the footpaths up most of the LakelandFells it’s a continues problem of repairing the footpaths of mountains of thelake District of which the National Trust own approx a quarter of the Lake districts fells and lakes and every year I give a donation of help in repairing the footpaths in the Lake District. Most of the National Trusts headlines are about the uukeep of the country houses with large gardens and country estates. But the National Trust own far more open coastline, countryside and lots of wildlife reserves rather than country houses with large garden and large estates.

Unknown said:

Also I don’t like the way that some wildlife Conservation organisations are hiring some on zero hour contracts.

Casual contracts are perfect for students who can only work out of term time - and this came from a student working in Minsmere's cafe.  I should add that I'm absolutely against zero-hour contracts when they are being used for staff who should be long-term full-timers.

Unknown said:

Now the much smaller conservation charity WWT and at my local Wildfowl Trust reserve in North East England there is no pressure or hard sell to any non-members biting.

That's as it should be.

If this is the sort of thing my donations are being spent on, I may have to consider whether to continue my sub. Will this provide a return greater than that salary?

I hope they aren't going to be involved with X-the-everything-app-(the-app-previously-known-as-twitter).

RSPB already have a large number of twitter accounts; plus ones in all the other major players of modern media. Any organisation these days has to be to survive, and to get their message out.

I have a concern as to how these media accounts are managed. So often they are set up because it is determined by a company that they need a presence on Social media, but then languishes either with hardly any updates if at all or inappropriate updates which appeals to nobody.

I also have a bad feelings about the word 'executive' for the position. This normally means manager, which normally translates to someone who hasn't a clue. Said executives then tends to demand a 'team' of direct reports, who then each demand a team of doers, and so all go on a hiring spree, resulting in a bloated, top heavy organisaton. Seen it happen so often.

The biggest worry is this statement: "the RSPB is also seeking to recruit a head of marketing, a head of brand, a strategic communications manager and a media relations manager"

Don't RSPB already have these positions already? I seem to remember they did.

Does it mean they are replacing the existing managers with new fresh blood that will look after existing RSPB member whilst attracting new, possibly younger members? This is possibly good.

Or does this mean yet more managers on top of the existing head of marketing, a head of brand, a strategic communications manager and a media relations manager, where these new managers look after a small subset of social media? This will be disastrous.

You can judge the content on TikTok by tapping into Google:

TikTok RSPB

All the posts are advertised here. The only one I couldn't find was the twitter one - but I didn't look at all of the 'fluff' jobs postings.

https://rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/rspb-job-vacancies/vacancies-listing/

Most appear to be for a 'new' department that has been set up recently. A couple (e.g. Head of Marketing) suggest a replacement.

Feel free to apply if you think you are up for them and can make a difference. I wouldn't, personally, but then again I am an old, grizzled, plain talking ex-software engineer with all the political correctness of a cornered, rabid rat.

I feel the salaries are actually quite low, compared to other industries and organisations. However, I feel they are about right, and the rest of industry should follow.

simonali said:

If this is the sort of thing my donations are being spent on, I may have to consider whether to continue my sub. Will this provide a return greater than that salary?

They are clearly banking on that.  I've always wondered, though, what it costs to keep the multitude of paid salesmen and women travelling the country - some of whom drive an official RSPB van.  I think it's costly and wasteful to have these people operating at many of the reserves as the existing staff and volunteers could be doing the same thing without the extra cost (indeed, all of the reception volunteers were obliged to complete a course in 'The GREAT Welcome' a few years ago, which is essentially a welcoming sales pitch).  The cost of the salesmen quite probably exceeds the costs of the posts under discussion here.