The Foreign Service Journal, April 2003

C ustomer service is an elusive concept. “Who ismy cus- tomer?” falls in the same category as “Whoare the ben- eficiaries?” indevelopment assistanceplanning. It is vital to think this question through tomake one’s efforts effective. A manager friend of mine in the private sector shared a valuable anecdote about how he greatly improved his unit’s productivity and morale. His unit (Fujitsu) installed com- munications hardware forVerizon toexpand theirphone ser- vice. He toldhis crews that their customerswerenot thepub- lic telephone users, but the Verizon workers installing the computers and wiring into theFujitsu-suppliedequipment. Goodcustomer service in this casemeant clearlymark- ing all input, output and cross-connection locations and cross-referencing themwith design drawings. Going that “extramile” eliminat- ed50percentofthepossiblemistakesthattheVerizon installers might have made. In other words, look beyondtheimmediatetaskstotherealreasonforyour work. Travel is an integral part ofworkatUSAID: trav- el to permanent assignment, home leave travel, rest and recuperation travel, andTDY travel. Someoffi- cersstationedoverseasareintravelstatusover60percentofthetime. Mostpeopleassigned toWashington travel at least once per year, while many travel several times a month. Sowhy don’t we get better service from the travel office? Maybe there is a question inM/TT as to who the customer is. In the past, “good”managers minimized costs by cutting corners, and if employees were caught in the squeeze, too bad. But now there are laws that prescribe adequate constraints. USAIDemployeesneed the agency toman- age the laws governing travel as flexibly as possible. For this to work, it must be made clear from the highest levels of senior agency management on down that accommo- dating the travelers’ needs is the priority. Managers responsible for travel and trans- portationmust be assured of top-down support. Conversely, foot-dragging and neg- ative customer relations must not be rewarded or even tolerated. First and foremost, cost-constructive travelmust not be frustrated. AFSAhas received reports from travelers who were not allowed to combine personal with official travel, even though the law and the Combined Federal Regulations permit cost-constructed travel. Other “interpretations” should not be used to interfere with this. USAID trav- elers deserve a travel office that works with them to meet their needs. We don’t need experts in ways to say “no.” We need experts in “getting to yes!” Genuine customer service requires recognitionof theuniqueneeds of the traveler and findingways tomeet them. We have similar needs in the area of transportation. When an employee assigned overseas loses a vehicledue tonatural disaster or anact of terrorism, why shoulda claim be denied in spite of precedents? If an employee can’t produce receipts because per- sonal files in the custody of theU.S. government have been lost through no fault of the employee, why should the employee’s claim be denied? Senior agencymanagement should sanctionnegative decisions on travel and trans- portationonlywhen all other options have been exhausted. USAIDemployees expect, and agency management should demand, that travel and transportation officials aim to meet the needs of the traveler rather than come up with clever and insidious ways to say “no.” ▫ APRIL 2003 • AFSA NEWS 5 We don’t need experts in ways to say “no.” We need experts in “getting to yes!” AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Continued from page 4 V.P. VOICE: USAID BY JOE PASTIC Call for Better Service from Travel Do You Get AFSANet? AFSANET is a free service of the American Foreign Service Association designed to provide updates on items of interest to the foreign affairs community. To subscribe, go to www.afsa.org/ forms/maillist.html. Letter from a Reader: Where to Retire? I would love to see a section with comments from AFSA retirees about how they feel (both pros and cons) about their selected place of retirement or places they seriously considered but decided against. It is difficult to get information while posted far away from the U.S. and it would be helpful to get insight from others who have shared a similar lifestyle and experiences while working abroad. Thank you, Virginia Krivis Editor’s note: This is a great idea! We ask that retirees or those consid- ering retirement options share their insights into what places make good, or not so good, retirement locations, and why. Send your input to afsanews@afsa.org. If we get enough responses, we’ll share them in these pages. JOSH