The Foreign Service Journal, June 2004

they expect their spouses to have a career. They want their agencies to do more on this issue, but many admit there is no simple solution. A March 27 International Herald Tribune article, “Trailing Spouses’ Job Needs Start to Get More Com- pany Time,” cites corporate surveys that show that “almost half of spous- es of overseas employees have their own jobs and their unwillingness to give these up is an increasing imped- iment to mobility.” Societal changes in America have brought the Foreign Service a new generation of employees who are not accompanied by spouses willing to fill the “traditional” FS wife’s role as the supporting player who accepts a Foreign Service life without individ- ual career aspirations. The agencies may not have had retention problems before, but with more women in the Service and more spouses — male and female — demanding career options, this problem may emerge over the next decade as this genera- tion of employees decides whether or not to stick with the Foreign Service. “The lack of support for unmar- ried officers with partners as well as spousal employment is a huge morale issue for me and other offi- cers,” writes Kerri Hannan, “espe- cially since the makeup of the FS has changed so drastically. Often spous- es are just as qualified, or more, to serve in the FS but choose not to. What options are they given over- seas?” “If my spouse does not have a pro- fessionally rewarding career, the Foreign Service will lose me,” says a male, married officer serving in China. “The State Department has to expect that nowadays professional, highly educated FSOs will be accom- panied by professional, highly edu- cated spouses,” says a facilities main- tenance specialist in Latin America. “Spousal employment is going to be important to many officers,” says a female officer in Seoul. “I can’t expect the FS to provide my spouse with a job, but I feel strongly that at least work agreements have to be pursued very hard so that my spouse can accept local work when he man- ages to find it.” “There are many spouses out there who have a strong desire to work. That void needs to be filled with something or the State Department is going to lose quali- fied, valuable employees,” says Ellen Eiseman, an attorney who spent six years as an FS accompanying spouse before joining the Foreign Service as a consular officer. “I expect my husband to have a career. He has education, experience and the desire to work. I expect the embassy to make its positions avail- able to spouses whenever possible at reasonable wages. I expect quality information about spousal employ- ment opportunities during post research. I would like to see job 38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 4 Married employees with children generally called for more help from State on family issues, while a strong majority of single officers complained that State is too family- friendly. Gen Y The current Gen Y junior officers expect to have much more input into and control over their career progression than my generation had. We were trained to do what we were told and to assume that ‘the System’ would do its best to turn us into wonderful diplomats. Today’s junior officers have a “show me the money” approach to career management. They want to know up front what they will be offered in terms of career training and they want to play a role in decid- ing what is best for them personally. …. The married officers I have worked with all expect that the needs of their spouses will be treated with just as much respect and urgency as the needs of the officers. They do not plan to have the two-level world we lived in, where the spouse is “just a spouse” and the officer is the only one visible to the HR system. Today’s JOs have not signed up for life and tend to evaluate the prospects of FS life in terms of five years — not 25 years. This means that senior managers need to change the way they try to motivate junior officers. Talking to them about job skills that will serve them well 20 years down the road is a waste of time. They want to know what they can do to get promoted in the next one to two years. Senior managers should not make the mistake of viewing this short- term approach as one that indicates a lack of dedication or commitment to the goals and objectives of the FS. — Ambassador Eileen Malloy, CG Sydney, who spent six months working in the Director General’s office helping develop the DRI. Part of her research included focus group meetings with incoming employees.