The Foreign Service Journal, April 2020

36 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL process, and only 50 percent said their supervisor reinforced the need for honesty, confidentiality and integrity in the MSR process. As we develop better training, and as supervisors and managers get more comfortable with the rating process, we expect confidence in the MSRs to increase, as well. Overall, we were very encouraged to learn that nearly all promotion board members endorsed the value of the new promotion package. And while many FSOs are adopting a wait- and-see attitude about MSRs and the overall impact of the new process, a large majority see it as an improvement over the old evaluation forms. A Step Forward In summary, the innovations USAID implemented in 2018 and 2019 represent a huge step forward in the agency’s effort to enhance the skills and professional development of the work- force while simultaneously providing promotion boards with the information and structure they need to identify the best can- didates for promotion. There appears to be widespread accep- tance of the Employee Performance and Development process, although we need to continue to encourage and support supervi- sors to use the required quarterly conversations more effectively. To that end, we have provided extensive education and training opportunities for the new process, and have been delivering a course on critical conversations. With respect to the new promotion process, acceptance may take a little longer. Understanding the new process requires unlearning the deeply embedded norms and practices of the AEF system, and this takes time. It also requires the Office of Human Capital and Talent Management to continue to work on training and communication, in addition to paying close attention to the one-off situations, technology issues, and equity and fairness concerns our workforce is sharing with the office and with AFSA. Fortunately, our workforce is a partner in this great endeavor, and with their continued good faith efforts to make it work—and to provide honest feedback when things aren’t working—our per- sonnel systems will only get better. We are already looking forward to hearing what FSOs will tell us in the Year Two Evaluation. n