The Foreign Service Journal, September 2003

I am sure that many employees may be saying “same ole, same ole” after reading a few sentences of this column. Nevertheless, I amgoing topersist. Annual evaluation form issues consume considerable AFSA time, so I want to do a little preventive maintenance here with my first column as yournewVP. I know, someold-timers are saying: “Can’t these incomingAFSAVPs ever comeupwithanythingnew?” Please bearwithme, and keep inmind that officerswho entered via the New Entry Professional program now represent 20 per- cent of USAID’s Foreign Service work force and it is clear from the last performance board debriefs that it is not “same ole, same ole” for many of them. AFSAbelieves itwouldbe useful topass on some generic observations gleaned from this year’s performance boards that we hope will be helpful to both employees and raters in the preparation of next year’s evaluations. WORK OBJECTIVES: Weak, non-substantive andprocess-orientedwork objectives disadvan- tage employees for promotion. Boards are often turned off by the repetition of work objectives year after year, but are impressedwithnarratives that focus onwhat the resultswere andhowthey were achieved. Narratives that answer the “so what?” question can be enormously helpful. SKILLS MATRIX: All of the skill areas need to be discussed in the narrative; surprisingly, raters are not always disciplined about doing this. In addition, boards areusuallyvery scrupulous about making sure there is a match between the skill level and grade level. Unfortunately, this is an area where raters are frequently sloppy and do not write the skill narrative tobe consistent with the appropriate grade level in the matrix. EMPLOYEE STATEMENT: Failure to make a comment can be perceived as disinter- est and thus can be taken negatively, whether intended or not. Employees can also severely handicap their chances for promotionwith excessive hubris, incomplete sen- tences and fuzzy-headed, slapdash thinking. This is why the Employee Statement is aptly called the “suicide box.” This year proved to be no exception. Employees need to proofread their statements carefully. In addition, it might be wise to run them by a colleague for reaction. The timing of this topic is not only appropriate for AEF season. Summer transi- tions to new posts should now be completed and the rating cycle is now at its mid- point. Everyone shouldhaveworkobjectives inplace and inmost casesmidcycle reviews should be occurring. If this is not the case, I hope this column will be the catalyst for some to make the systemwork as it was designed to work. Many complaints are heard about the AEF systemnot working as it should. Yet I am always amazed at how many managers give AEFs short shrift and do noth- ing until almost the end of the rating period. Employees should not be complic- it; they need to be proactive in seeing that work objectives are in place and mid- cycle reviews are conducted at the appropriate time. Otherwise, it will forever be: “same ole, same ole.” ▫ Employees should not be complicit; they need to be proactive in seeing that work objectives are in place and midcycle reviews are conducted at the appropriate time. V.P. VOICE: USAID ■ BY BILL CARTER Same Ole, Same Ole SEPTEMBER 2003 • AFSA NEWS 5 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Continued from page 3 AFSA Members Save on Subscriptions to The Economist AFSA is proud to announce the addi- tion of The Economist to our Magazine Discount Program. AFSA members may now order this popular foreign affairs journal at a 45-percent discount off the regular subscription rate, a sav- ings of $44.00. To subscribe, please contact AFSA’s Member Services to request an order form: (202) 338-4045, ext 525 or member@afsa.org. For more information about AFSA’s Magazine Discount Program, please visit our Web site at http://www.afsa. org/mbr/magaz.cfm. AFSA Staff Changes In July, Asgeir Sigfusson replaced Suzie Reager as the office manager and assistant to the USAID AFSA vice president. Asgeir recently received his master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and previously interned at AFSA headquarters. In August, Charles Henderson joined the AFSA staff as a grievance attorney, replacing Neera Parikh, who is moving with her husband to Chicago. In September, retired USAID FSO attorney Harry Wilkinson joins the AFSA staff as a part-time grievance attorney. Executive Assistant Marc Goldberg moved on in August to join the Peace Corps. He and his wife will be serving in Moldova. CORRECTION: Due to a production error, an illustration on page 3 of the June AFSA News was omit- ted. It was designed to go with the note applauding the suc- cess of AFSA in convincing State to reverse a negative decision on reim- bursement for laundry and dry cleaning expenses for FSI students. BRIEFS continued on page 6 JOSH