The Foreign Service Journal, May 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2015 23 Service now has fewer than five years of experience, and more than two-thirds have served or are now serving at hardship posts. That earlier surge in hiring has now screeched to a halt, barely keeping pace with attrition. And the outlook is for con- tinued fiscal tightness, even as we risk losing seasoned employ- ees with exceptional experience and expertise to retirement, selection-out or resignation as the economy improves and large cohorts compete for a relatively static number of promotion opportunities at higher grades. The large intakes from the Dip- lomatic Readiness Initiative and Diplomacy 3.0 now confront the predictable tightening of promotion rates as the number of higher-graded positions naturally tapers at mid- and senior levels. All these trends put a premium on more, and better, employee engagement. Foreign Service 2025 We can predict with high confidence that over the next quarter-century, the world will continue to be a messy place that requires U.S. leadership. We can also forecast that more, not fewer, U.S. stakeholders will look to participate in foreign policy formulation and execution. That means we as a depart- ment must be much better managers, especially with regard to our talented employees. The diplomatic knowledge, skills and competencies that have always marked Foreign Service excellence will be in greater, not lesser, demand. At the same time, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have challenged us to be more flexible—to adapt and learn at a much more acceler- ated pace—and achieve results that matter. With that mandate in mind, the Bureau of Human Resources is committed to an overarching goal: to recruit, retain and sus- tain a diverse workforce geared to succeed in 2025 and beyond. We are moving forward on three tracks. First, we are partnering with AFSA to develop and imple- ment a professional code of ethics for the Foreign Service, based on our core values of accountability, character, community, diversity, loyalty and service. Bringing these values into sharper relief—and tying them to who we are and to what we do that is unique and consequential for our nation—is essential for our conversations with Congress and the American people. We not only want to forge a more capable FS 2025 workforce, but also communicate our accomplishments strategically and well. Second, we are focusing on improving operational effec- tiveness. One component is workforce flexibility: tapping into and expanding family member employment; and better using limited non-career hiring to meet short-term needs, notably for consular responsibilities. Another component is work-life well- ness that builds employee empowerment and boosts morale and productivity. We will also push greater Service efficiencies through standardization, regionalization and centralization of support functions, with an emphasis on impact—attaining diplomatic and foreign policy goals. By reducing structural rigidities, bottlenecks and complexity, employees can devote less time to internal coordination tasks and more time to delivering on goals. Third, we want to devote greater resources to professional development. Partnering with the Foreign Service Institute and the Management Bureau’s Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing and Innovation, we are using the Culture of Leader- ship initiative to better align recruitment, training, bidding and assignments, and employee performance management. FSI is revamping many of its courses to concentrate on concrete, prac- tical training and coaching, not just mentoring. Within HR, we are advancing in three areas: • Recruiting and developing talented employees with diverse backgrounds (through internships and fellowships, and disabil- ity hiring), expanding our marketing strategies and underscoring our merit-based system; • Enhancing and integrating leadership and management skills (mandatory supervisory training, coaching for chiefs of mission and their deputies); and • Undertaking performance management and assignment reform (new FS employee evaluation form, overhaul of selection board operations, improved recognition and rewards, modern- ized assignment system, and targeted details beyond State). In overhauling the performance management system, we From a high point during the Truman administration, the State Department’s preeminence in foreign policy has waned.