The Foreign Service Journal, May 2022

AFSA hosted Candice Bruce, a diplomat with the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, for a virtual event on Feb. 23 to discuss the crucial role of agricultural diplomats in strengthening the U.S. economy—work that many Americans may not be familiar with. Bruce began by explaining that FAS, consisting of about 150 officers, is the USDA’s lead agency on international coopera- tion. “We’re a small agency, but we have a really big mission …and a direct impact on the American economy,” she said. The FAS mandate is to promote the export of U.S. food and agricultural products, which supports more than a million American jobs. Bruce particularly enjoys the creative element to trade Diplomats at Work Event A Day in the Life of an Agricultural Diplomat should be accountable for doing their part. Respondents generally said they know how their work contributes to agency goals. Members also said they broadly believed leaders kept themwell informed on agency develop- ments. Problematic leadership accountability. Members prioritized a lack of leader- ship accountability as a problem, often comment- ing that leadership was not “walking the talk” and that double standards of conduct exist between senior leaders (and their immediate subor- dinates) and all others in the agencies. This perception was illustrated by allegations that leaders indulged in problem behaviors themselves and tolerated poor conduct in their subordinates with few personal consequences. Lack of trust in promo- tions/assignments. Among the lowest scores in the survey (one to three stars) were those highlighting the difficulties with the bureau- cratic systems and processes that affected work operations and Foreign Service “life” issues. Members cited a lack of trust in these systems and a strong sense that they need to be much more transparent and vastly modernized. Lack of trust in the EER and assignments system was also linked with a lack of leadership accountabil- ity and fairness—both the sense that there were overly favored employees, and also that “problem” performers were not dealt with and failed upward. Lack of resources, especially staff. A lack of resources came up many times, with staff shortages overwhelmingly the most fre- quently mentioned deficiency, followed by funding and by time. Members often cited a lack of time as a reason why training in the Foreign Service is given short shrift. Career opportunities. In the survey statement asking members to opine on whether career opportunities in their agencies are promising, two- thirds of employees said yes; those who did not bemoaned the dearth of promotion slots as a primary factor in limiting their career prospects. Management processes. Members painted as very problematic the amount of time work processes like evaluation and promotion and bidding and assignments take from the workday. In addition, a significant percentage of respondents noted that better technology and modernized systems could improve the efficiency of processes and systems. In response to the com- panion statement regarding systems and processes man- aging Foreign Service “life” issues, many respondents said current systems are not nimble enough to keep pace with fast-moving global events and, again, observed that potentially beneficial technol- ogy was not being used to create efficiencies. Good guidance from leadership. Some members said they observed a recent improvement in leadership accountability and that their superiors gave them positive and productive guidance in their day-to-day work.While the survey brought to the fore a dissatisfaction with the widespread structural and cultural impediments to risk- taking in the Foreign Service workplace, some respondents reported that their supervi- sors encouraged appropri- ate risk-taking. Very broadly speaking, the shorter the chain of command, the higher members rated their leaders. Copies of the survey results for each agency are available fromJulie Nutter at nutter@ afsa.org and will be posted on the AFSAwebsite. n Survey Results Continued from page 55 62 MAY 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS promotion, a key part of expanding U.S. exports. “We have trade missions where we take buyers or exporters overseas to meet potential buyers; promotional activities; social media cam- paigns and a wide range of marketing events,” she told viewers. When at post overseas, FAS officers serve as the U.S. ambassador’s primary advisers on agricultural issues. At embassies, Bruce said, FAS officers collaborate closely with other mission staff, especially USAID, the economic team and the regional environmental officer. During her assignment to Peru, one of her favorite experi- ences involved driving from Lima over the Andes Mountains into the high jungle to observe local coffee production for two weeks. “I spoke to local contacts,” she recounted, “wrote a report