The Foreign Service Journal, February 2004

Then I ask for three factors they consider most responsible for the level of morale, as they perceive it. I ask then for their perception of the front office if it has not been men- tioned yet, and cover the rest of the internal factors followed by the exter- nal ones. To end the interview I ask what is the thing they think could improve morale at post the most. The summary of the ratings and observations is given in out-briefing sessions and in a written report for the extended evaluations. The writ- ten report is usually sent to the ambassador through the Deputy Chief of Mission. This information is gathered through interviews that are part of the courtesy calls during regional vis- its. On most regional visits, I use a “quick and dirty” version of the sys- tem due to the limited time. At home posts there is less of a time constraint and interviews are set up specifically for this purpose. It is not uncommon for people to ask if the interviews are confidential. Once people are assured they are, most are quite candid and forthcoming in their opinions. Others express interest in what I intend to do with the information obtained: the answer is that the individual observa- tions will be combined in a general report to be presented to manage- ment without identifying the sources. Some Observations During the past 12 years, I have done 172 morale assessments in regional visits and five in-depth assessments at home posts. In the latter, the size of the “samples” has ranged from 8 percent to 31 percent of American employees, which, in a couple of cases, translated into inter- viewing over 60 people. Ratings . The ratings of morale usually fall within a range of two points in the 0-10 scale. This approach does not allow drawing conclusions about specific sections or offices of the post, although com- ments made in that respect are noticed. It is worth pointing out that high-level managers generally rate morale at post higher than others. This is consistent with the private sector, where Nowesnick in her arti- cle “Mending Morale” reports the same finding in financial institutions. It is interesting that some of the highest ratings have been obtained at hardship posts and posts with danger pay. This reflects not the actual living conditions or quality of life in the country or city, but more clearly internal factors that balance the situ- ation or good adaptive skills in the American employees at post. The reverse side of the coin is to find morale lower than one would expect in developed countries due to unrealistic expectations, difficulties in adjusting to “large city life,” housing that is usually smaller than expected, inability to find or to afford house- hold help, and the lack of a cohesive community or a sense of community that is fairly typical in more difficult or smaller posts. Internal factors . Something that became clear quite early is that the front office “management style” exerts a pervasive influence on morale through the post or, as some say, “it sets the tone or the atmos- phere for morale.” I make sure I ask about this in each assessment. This is one of those issues that need to be explored specifically because people seldom mention it spontaneously. How the front office is perceived in terms of the senior-most managers’ concern, interest and caring for “the troops” is very important and should not be underestimated. The fact is that lack of concern or interest in the staff often translates into certain actions (or more often a lack of them) that directly affect quality of life and working conditions. Even the impression of not caring has a strong effect. A good example is long absences of ambassadors from post — especially if seen as unnecessary or motivated by personal reasons. The almost universal meaning or interpretation given to this is lack of interest in the mission. At one large embassy, several officers complained that the mission had been left “rud- derless” even though a very compe- tent officer had been the chargé d’ affaires for the absent ambassador. These absences could also be “inter- nal,” as in senior managers that are never seen around the post — as if they were absent — because they never leave their “ivory towers” or “the top floor.” Overall, posts want a front office that is “visible and engaged.” As Amb. Nagy notes in the conclusion of his article on ambassadors and post morale: “More than ever, the level of morale affects every facet of the mis- sion performance and community life. And it is the ambassador’s responsibility to work ceaselessly to make it as high as possible.” Another major factor is the sup- port provided by the administrative and general services sections. People find it a lot easier to talk about this, in particular if it has affected them per- sonally. This section manages the resources that constitute “creature 60 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 4 Morale is a two-way street — the joint responsibility of management and employees.