The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2015 35 want to contribute in different ways to the mission of the State Department. I really appreciate what AFSA has accomplished on behalf of the Foreign Service and I have definitely benefited from initia- tives like closing the overseas comparability pay gap. But after 12 years of paying my dues, and in light of this report, I have to wonder why there hasn’t been a focus by AFSA on more of the issues specifically related to specialists—not benefits gained by specialists as a byproduct of FSO concerns. Why didn’t AFSA advocate on our behalf with AAD to ensure that specialists were included in this report? —Sara Sorensen FS-4 OMS Deputy Coordinator for Specialist Orientation Foreign Service Institute Still, A Few Well-Thought-Out Recommendations O n page 11 the AAD report states with regard to the career Foreign Service specialist corps: “The parameters of this project do not permit an exploration of its contributions, roles and needs.” This entire report ignores the contributions and roles of nearly half of the Foreign Service corps? That is extremely disheartening. If we are to truly move forward to create a fully functioning, adaptable Foreign and Civil Service that serves the American people with a high caliber of diplomacy, all employees need to be a part of it. FS specialists represent a hugely talented population of workers, many of whose daily duties include adaptability and thinking outside of the box. By ignoring their contributions as professionals in this report, a huge opportunity is lost to review how the specialist skill codes could be adapted and updated to better serve the Foreign Service. Retention is a very important issue to many specialist skill codes. If you constantly tell a group of people that their careers are not important and that they have no value to contribute to the organization, they will eventually leave. And that would be a tragedy for the department, the American people we serve and the world of diplomacy. That said, the report does offer some well-thought-out recommendations. Recommendation 2, on including career diplomats in the most senior State Department positions, is very important, and I hope to see more career Foreign Service personnel considered for top posts. It’s important for chiefs of mission, in particular, to understand the challenges faced by and the potential of everyone serving in their missions. As for Recommendation 10b, to provide incentives for acquiring languages before entry, while it’s good to encourage recruitment of people who already have language abilities, State should expand the opportunities for language training after hiring, especially for specialists. The number of language- designated position opportunities on the bid lists with time built in for language training is extremely low for all the specialist skill codes compared to the generalist codes. As a result, many specialists go out to posts with no language training at all, which greatly impairs their ability to communicate effectively. Recommendation 10d, to make pre-entry cone selection tem- porary, is an excellent idea. It will enable people to have a better understanding of what the cones are and make an informed choice based on their abilities and experience. Recommenda- tion 22, to establish an online course on U.S. diplomatic history and practice, is another great idea, but access to the course should not be restricted to certain grades or skill codes. — Jessica Foreign Service Office Management Specialist Start Using the Stick T he AAD report places too much emphasis on political appointee creep (a road we insist on going down over and over again) and surrendering too much Foreign Service respon- sibility to the Civil Service. As noted in a May 4 Washington Post article, people leave federal employment chiefly due to job sat- isfaction and work environment issues, both of which are only moderately affected by civil servants and political appointees. If we are to create a fully functioning, adaptable Foreign and Civil Service that serves the American people with a high caliber of diplomacy, all employees need to be a part of it. — Jessica