18 JULY AUGUST 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL assignments. This normally occurs every two to three years. Traditionally, the process allows members of the Foreign Service to select those individuals who will provide a positive assessment. In its current form, this process leaves out vital voices who can give honest feedback on the employee’s performance, how they treat others, and whether or not they should be given greater leadership responsibilities. To mandate that the employee include a broader set of colleagues familiar with them would—eventually— change behaviors, because decisionmakers would be able to see the whole person based on a broader set of voices. Employee evaluation report (EER) reform. State has made some changes in evaluating FS employee performance and leadership capabilities. The department’s workforce has changed over time, and expectations and a postpandemic reality have changed our workplace, but we still use the same measurements to identify and promote leaders. The EER rightly captures an employee’s accomplishments, ability to effectively lead teams, and ability to achieve overall results. But as leaders, employees have to manage teams under sometimes challenging circumstances, which requires the full tool kit of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Therefore, there is a need to take into account the whole person and, in some way, the results identified in the 360 process. These attributes are clearly prescribed in State’s Leadership and Management Principles (see 3 FAM 1214) and should be exhibited by employees, supervisors, and managers alike. Both employees and supervisors should be held accountable when they fail to adhere to these principles. Support for managers before problems arise. Mandatory leadership training, which Secretary Colin Powell introduced, was only a first step in building strong, accountable leaders. The Manager Support Unit provides a tool kit for navigating difficult management challenges. But what about long before those problems arise? There is no commensurate place for managers to find a tool kit of tactics for managing hybrid teams, building rapport when a team member is on domestic employee teleworking overseas (DETO), or for tracking employees’ tasks, managing information flow from several different systems, or simply keeping pace with email. Some managers and subordinates are fortunate in picking up tools along the way from talented colleagues. More training and resources for managers on how to build and sustain healthy teams, including an online repository of strategies to apply, is a clear first step. 360 reform. The 360 process is used in the Foreign Service to solicit input from references to support an employee’s bidding process for upcoming Many of these individuals never receive the necessary feedback and corrective training and present the same negative behavior at assignment after assignment.
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