The Foreign Service Journal, May 2011

64 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 1 1 Telework in the Federal Govern- ment.” Although no statistics are kept for overseas posts, some appear to be allowing limited telecommut- ing in special cases. OPM’s analysis of 2010 Telework and Employee Viewpoint Survey re- sults shows that due to various “bar- riers” 69.9 percent of State employ- ees do not telecommute. These ob- stacles can be both real and per- ceived, and include lack of appropriate IT equipment or training in its use, management fear of insufficient office coverage or work output, and employees’ fear they might be harming their image or chance of promotion. State can benefit from the experience of organizations that have successfully overcome these barriers by ensuring that the organization’s leadership supports and directs the change; allowing for open discussion of concerns; identi- fying and supplying the necessary tools and training to all affected employees; developing metrics to measure work output; and ensuring that employees suffer no adverse ef- fects on their career advancement by using FWAs. There are other compelling reasons State should em- brace this trend. First, it will help the organization adjust to a generational change and the continued influx of IT- savvy young employees with different notions of the boundaries between work and life. As Foreign Service Director General Nancy Powell points out in the De- cember 2010 issue of State magazine, the department should be cognizant that Generation Xers and Millennials “want the job to fit into their per- sonal life and family.” FWAs offer a way to retain our most experi- enced employees, many of whom are increasingly struggling with the competing demands of work and elder care. Despite some improvement over the years, in 2010 men still outnumbered women in the Senior Executive Service by almost 2 to 1 and in the Senior Foreign Service by more than 2 to 1. One key determinant of whether organizations have been able to reverse male dominance of the executive suite has been whether they have made workplace flexibility an in- tegral part of the culture. So to take full advantage of the talents of our female employees, and ensure we don’t lose them to a more accommodating work environment, State will have to follow suit. With the increasing call for service at danger, hardship and unaccompanied posts, State should look for ways to allow Foreign Service employees greater workplace flexi- bility to help modulate these demanding assignments and allow time for employees and their families to regain their footing once they are over. Moreover, since domestic as- signments usually provide the best opportunity for spousal employment, an employee on an FWA would be better positioned to support a spouse’s return to work, easing the difficulties inherent in re-entry and trying to make ends meet in “two-income” areas like Washington, D.C. Given that overseas posts and the regional and func- tional bureaus that support them in the department al- ready work essentially as remote teams often operating on different schedules, alternate work arrangements and re- mote work will allow for easier communication, better of- fice coverage and greater continuity of operations during emergencies, while giving our employees more options to better align work and family demands. Adopting a more flexible work culture would also be consistent with the rec- ommendations of the 2007 “Embassy of the Future” Com- mission to create a more decentralized, flexible and mobile work force. At the same time, it would help achieve Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s goal, as outlined in the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, to free employees from their desks so they can deliver the results American taxpayers expect and deserve from us. F O C U S Wider use of FWAs could boost State’s effectiveness by increasing employee productivity and morale and reducing attrition. Internet Resources on Work-Life Issues Alliance for Work-Life Progress www.awlp.org/awlp/home/html/homepage.jsp Boston College Center for Work & Family www.bc.edu/centers/cwf/ Georgetown Law Workplace Flexibility 2010 www.workplaceflexibility2010.org/ The Sloan Work and Family Research Network http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/ Interagency Web site for information about telework in the federal government www.telework.gov/ — Margot Carrington