36 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Updating the Foreign Service assignments system would increase performance and morale, helping ensure State Department readiness to meet tomorrow’s problems. BY CHARITY L. BOYETTE Charity L. Boyette, PhD, is an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Management at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. She served as a Foreign Service officer from 2009 to 2018, with tours in Lagos, Krakow, Brussels, and Washington, D.C. She received her doctorate in public administration and public affairs from Virginia Tech and her master’s in business administration from the College of William and Mary. Her previous article for the FSJ is in the October 2020 edition (https://afsa.org/neededmanagement-mindset). In an era when the structure, size, and function of federal agencies are under increasing scrutiny, the U.S. Foreign Service is not immune. Debates over how government should adapt to a more complex global environment place new press- ure on institutions like the Foreign Service to reassess how they operate, support their people, and deliver on their mission. These conversations create space for thoughtful, meaningful reform, particularly in areas long overdue for attention. One of the most consequential of these is the State Department’s approach to assigning its Foreign Service personnel. The assignments process for FSOs at State is decentralized by design. Each regional bureau or functional office controls its portfolio and decides who best fits its needs. In practice, this means an officer may receive a “handshake” (job offer) for a role without ever participating in a formal interview. Another may lose out to a less qualified peer with better connections. Selection interviews are often generic, with little attention to the specific skills, past performance, or developmental goals the position might require. And when a well-placed sponsor or a glowing word from a deputy assistant secretary can secure the next coveted posting, the process often leads to inequity. The current system favors those who know how to navigate the informal structures of influence. There is no standardized way to evaluate who is best suited—technically, temperamentally, or developmentally—for a given assignment. The pro- Competence Before Connections Redesigning Assignments for the Modern Era THE FUTURE OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE FOCUS
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