The Foreign Service Journal, May 2006

I am sure Information Manage- ment Officers can relate to the following scenario: Washington informs you that you are getting an entry-level Information Management Specialist to replace your current IMS, who is transferring to an onward assignment. You sometimes partici- pate in the training work-up for the incoming IMS, which is usually tai- lored to the kind of post to which they’re going, and carefully describes the position’s duties and the level of training required to carry them out. So far, so good, you think. When the employee arrives at post, you discover during your initial interview that he or she is certified in A+, Windows 2000 or 2003, Windows XP and a plethora of other Microsoft operating systems and applications. They may have even attained the level of a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. You will also find a little bit of telephone and radio training in this mix, but it’s overshadowed by the IT courses in the aggregate scheme of things. So then you think, “Wow, this is great; I have this highly skilled person on my staff!” You establish the position’s work requirements, voice your expecta- tions, set goals and send your new IMS off into the cruel, cruel world of Embassy Help Desk 101. There one quickly learns that no good deed goes unpunished when working with high- maintenance users, and people with egos as big as their desks. But it doesn’t take long for the senior IMS, or the Information Programs Officer, to let you know that the new employee arrived with minimal knowledge of how to per- form core IRM duties; e.g. handling the diplomatic pouch, attending to radio and telephone issues, keeping adequate documentation, etc. Soon after that, you hear through the grapevine that there is some friction between the new IMS and the rest of the IRM staff because the employee is primarily concentrating on his or her IT-related duties, treating the other duties as a lower priority. To confirm this situation, you walk over to the Information Processing Center and find a slew of neglected tasks: equipment to be pouched up and sent out, shipping cables to be sent, radio equipment awaiting dis- position and lights to be changed. In addition, the COMSEC account needs to be brought up to date and the mailroom is experiencing horren- dous incidents with customers. Even if you have enough staff to pick up the slack until the new hire gets up to speed on his or her responsibilities — which is often not the case — they are likely to resent having to do so. Similarly, a counsel- ing session for the new employee and the supervisor may help reinforce attention to goals and objectives, but the damage has already been done in the form of a demoralized informa- tion management staff that performs at less than peak levels. And that is a situation which adversely affects everyone in the mission, whether or not they have a clue about what spe- cialists actually do. After all, how can anyone function without mail and telephones, for starters? In an emer- gency, what would you do if you didn’t have your cell phone and your radio did not work? Certification Fever How could a scenario like this happen? I think that for the most part, it stems from attitudes formed during the entry-level process in Washington. Specifically, the training regimen for Information Manage- ment Specialists — both at the M A Y 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 15 What Are We Training IMSers to Do? B Y C ARL E. S TEFAN S PEAKING O UT For days on end the instructors basically ran “study halls” to prepare us for certification — not for our day-to-day duties.