The Foreign Service Journal, May 2015

24 MAY 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL want to return time and value to employees, and accentuate personal growth and development. We are switching from a model that evaluates the six current competencies to one that appraises effectiveness, which integrates and implements the competencies, in three areas: people, policy and programs. Our goal is not merely evaluative, but to build employees’ professional development, providing training and support so they become effective leaders, managers and diplomatic prac- titioners. Continuity and Transformation The Foreign Service is America’s front line. We are in the information business: identifying, analyzing, disseminating and making recommendations to prevent, preempt or solve problems. We are also in the networking business: identifying and cultivating programmatically influential people in all fields. And we are in the advocacy business: discussing, negotiating, persuading and convincing others to act with and for us. None of that will change. We will continue to equip our employees with the resources and tools to succeed in an increasingly turbulent world. At the same time, we know we are not the Foreign Service of 1950, 2001 or even 2010. More than ever, we need the very best people: the ones who see past the horizon; who are curious, innovative, tenacious; who show initiative, judgment, resilience, adaptability and perseverance. We’ve always had those employ- ees, but it’s more important than ever to attract and prepare a workforce for the future, bearing in mind that such attributes are often best learned and honed through real-life experience. The reforms we are launching are designed to do just that: build capacity, experience and perspective. We will retest, reeval- uate and refresh policies and programs constantly. Our partner- ship with AFSA can both drive and smooth these changes. A Foreign Service geared to and equipped for 2025 is not built in a day. But we are committed to that transformational goal. n The State Department has internal stresses arising from feast-and- famine hiring and from institutional growing pains.