The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2023

22 JULY-AUGUST 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL for other, more well-trodden paths to fill their vacancies. Now multiple individuals with insight into the process tell me that reappoint- ment is getting a makeover. The careers. state.gov website was updated in March to announce an open season until June 30 for all skill categories at the FS-2 level and below to express inter- est in reappointment. This will help the department gauge the size of the latent demand for reentry. In addition, GTM is purportedly updating the standard operating pro- cedure (SOP) with an eye to making it smoother to rejoin and is looking to staff that effort appropriately. Why Bother? With so many competing HR demands, three things make reappoint- ment worth the effort: strengthening retention and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), upskilling the department’s mid-levels, and embracing incremental positive change. Strengthening retention and DEIA. Following broader post-COVID-19 pan- demic trends, department employees are demanding greater flexibility. Although the department has made strides in this regard, former Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian McKeon said internal workforce surveys show that “significant numbers” of employees are thinking of leaving. He noted that unsatisfied demands for flexibility are a factor in retention, a finding that prompted the creation of an Office of Retention. (On a personal note, after announcing my resignation, I was shocked by the number of FSOs who asked to speak with me privately, telling me they were also considering leaving.) A 2021 Harvard Kennedy study found that although attrition may not appear higher, disaggregated rates reveal that women and racial and ethnic minorities were leaving the department at a higher rate. For some former FSOs with whom I spoke, leave without pay (LWOP) as it now exists would have helped them stay (it was extended to three years under former DG Carol Perez). Greater LWOP flexibility has been a perennial recommendation to address DEIA and other workforce flexibility goals and is a useful analogue to reappoint- ment. Just as consensus has emerged that a more generous LWOP policy is a reten- tion measure (rather than a flight risk), a liberal reappointment policy would allow the department to retain some employ- ees who need more flexibility to complete full careers in the Foreign Service. Needs of the Service. In a speech at the Foreign Service Institute in October 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out areas in which the department needs more expertise: cli- mate, global health, cyber security and emerging technologies, economics, and multilateral diplomacy. Following his lead, the Director Gen- eral of the Foreign Service and Director of GTM Marcia Bernicat said last year that State needs upskilling in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and new technology. Similarly, the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prioritized the role of science and technology in the exercise of diplomacy. Much of this expertise is going to come from new specialized positions in the Civil Service. But leadership has been clear that the Foreign Service also needs skill modernization. There is extremely limited mid-career entry into the Foreign Service, mostly through Civil Service to Foreign Service conversion (as of this writing, a pilot lateral entry program at State, mandated by the NDAA, has not yet begun). That means that the upskilling the Secretary and DG call “critical to our national security in the years ahead” needs to take place primarily within the current ranks. Hiring entry-level officers with the desired skills is an important part of this effort. But in 10 years, those same skills will, in turn, need to be renewed; there is a perpetual need for updated capabili- ties at the mid-ranks. This is why training has been such a prominent element of reform efforts. Take, for instance, the push to revamp economic and commercial training. State has a number of programs to allow FSOs, mostly in the economic cone, to spend a brief stint in the private sector, like the Eagleburger Fellowship and six-month practicums after economic training. Prioritization of these kinds of pro- grams shows that private sector experi- ence is increasingly necessary for top performance by those FSOs. Reappoint- ment would be an additional cost- effective way to get people with the desired experience at the mid-ranks. Incremental change is still change. According to GTM’s 2020 workforce Unsatisfied demands for flexibility are a factor in retention, a finding that prompted the creation of an Office of Retention.