The Foreign Service Journal, October 2016

Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA USAID VP. Contact: swayne@usaid.gov or (202) 712-1631 USAID VP VOICE | BY SHARON WAYNE AFSA NEWS Taking Care of Our People The responsibility for “Duty of Care” is a topic currently gaining momentum within the federal government, and one that has great signifi- cance for USAID FSOs given the security concerns, the round-the-clock nature of foreign affairs, and the significant personal sacri- fices that USAID FSOs and their families are required to make. The 2014 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review highlighted USAID’s pledge to “take care of its people.” The reality that ser- vice in high-stress environ- ments and its foreseeable consequences (see “The Cost of Longer CPC Tours” in the October 2014 FSJ ) has become the norm for USAID FSOs led the agency to commission an independent study to help guide their next steps. The report on that study, prepared by Greenleaf Inte- grative Strategies and titled “Stress and Resilience Issues Affecting USAID Personnel in High Operational Stress Environments” (http://bit. ly/2dhTktz), was released last September. (See discus- sion of the report in Talking Points, January-February 2016 FSJ .) The study’s storyline took a twist when the findings revealed that the primary sources of stress identi- fied by USAID personnel were related to institutional THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2016 55 factors, not external contex- tual factors. In other words, USAID has created its own high-stress environment, regardless of where one serves. The building blocks of the high-stress, in-house environment have been internal practices, employed over many years, such as neglecting to hire sufficient numbers of Foreign Service officers and declining to provide adequate training and opportunity at all levels of the Foreign Service career (despite the Foreign Service Act of 1980’s mandate to do so in sec. 703: Career Devel- opment). USAID has strayed from its foundational respon- sibility as a foreign affairs agency—namely to recruit and champion its FSOs. The results of the stress and resilience assessment clearly reveal how an otherwise honorable agency like USAID could rank as low as it does in the federal employee view- point surveys. The Greenleaf study opens with this observation by a medical unit employee: “USAID personnel are the most stressed population from among the various agencies at post.” It goes on to identify the top sources of stress at USAID: 1–Heavy Workload/ Pace (i.e. inadequate staff- ing); 2–Leadership Defi- cits (e.g., failure to defend USAID institutional interests in interagency forums); 3– Inadequate Management (e.g., lack of personnel and team-based management skills); and 4–Poor Super- vision (e.g., deficient in prioritization of tasks and feedback). Because USAID is undergoing a transforma- tion in its Office of Human Capital and Talent Manage- ment, the time is right to address the foundational weaknesses described in this study. I believe a direct line can be drawn from the well-worn practices of deficient workforce plan- ning, budgeting and training to the near-default filling of the resultant agency gaps with temporary, non-career USAID has strayed from its foundational responsibility as a foreign affairs agency— to recruit and champion its FSOs. staff (often program-funded due to insufficient operating expense budget) and the distressing results we see in this assessment. Correcting these damaging business practices and changing what has become culture will require agency top leader- ship to drive the course, but it is possible. A system that transpar- ently and accurately articu- lates USAID’s hiring, training and career pathing needs to “take care of its people”. That must be among the highest of priorities towards meet- ing its development goals. Our people are our greatest asset. n