The Foreign Service Journal, March 2008

MA R CH 2 0 0 8 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 61 A F S A N E W S V.P. VOICE: STATE BY STEVE KASHKETT Shooting the Messenger A FSA takes very seriously its obligation to live up to its slogan — “The Voice of the Foreign Service” — in everythingwe do. We have the challenge of representing the career professionals of a government department renowned for placing the highest value on individual discre- tion, discipline and obedience to authority. In our line of work, loyalty is often rewarded at the expense of individual outspokenness, even on vital matters that affect the daily lives of our peo- ple serving in often difficult and danger- ous environments around the world. So most FS members understandably prefer not to speak out. Instead, it is AFSA’s job to speak out for them and to give them a voice in dealing with department man- agement, with the media and with the American public. Gauging the opinions and concerns of a diverse body of more than 11,000 intelligent, diverse, independent thinkers, however, is no simple task. All of us in the Foreign Service have our own perceptions of what our colleagues are think- ing based on our daily conversations “around the water cool- er” at embassies, consulates and offices within the department itself, but this is not a systematic way to assess the mood of our entire Service. We at AFSAget dozens of e-mails andphone calls every single day frommembers all over the world, some- times hundreds in a typical week, on a wide range of subjects of concern to them. But this, too, provides only an anecdo- tal snapshot of the mood out there. As a result, the AFSA leadership has always been challenged to prove its claim to be speaking on behalf of a majority of our colleagues. Frequently, when AFSA would bring mem- bers’ concerns to department management, the response was one of skepticism. We were told that our position on a par- ticular issue only reflected the views of a small number of vocal complainers; i.e., the “squeaky wheel” phenomenon. Some management interlocutors would use this as a justification for refusing to address a particular problem. Confronted with the challenge of speaking authoritative- ly for amajority of our colleagues, AFSA tried amore systematic approach starting in 2005. After consulting with profession- al pollsters and statisticians, we designed an easy-to-use, multi- issue electronic opinion poll that we could send by e-mail to all of the 11,300 State active-duty members of the Foreign Service at every diplomatic post worldwide. Wemade the sur- vey strictly anonymous. We did our best to use neutral word- ing in the questions, andwe left plen- ty of room for individual comments. Over a period of two months, we repeatedly sent out the survey link by AFSAnet, by ALDAC cable, by e-mail and by internal department notice. We asked ambassadors, DCMs and AFSA post reps to encourage peo- ple to complete the poll. The response each year has been aston- ishing. In 2005, almost 1,829 of our col- leagues took the survey. In the 2006 sur- vey, that figure nearly doubled to 3,416. This year, we reached a remarkable level of participation with 4,311 respondents. This approaches 40 percent of the entire State active-duty Foreign Service. It included hundreds of senior officers, nearly 1,000 entry-level officers and thou- sands ofmid-level members. These 4,311 respondents, includ- ing both generalists and specialists, came from every overseas post and every bureau in the State Department in appropri- ate representative proportions. Almost half of the State offi- cers currently serving in Iraq took the poll. In addition tomaking clear their opinions by checking the yes/no andmultiple-choice questions, these 4,311 respondents provided a great deal more detail on their thinking and sug- gestions on various subjects by enteringmore than 6,000, some- times lengthy, comments in the open-ended comment boxes. This overwhelming survey response—massive by any sta- tistical standards — left us with an unmistakable sense of the strong desire of the members of the Foreign Service to have their voices heard and their concerns addressed on awide range of issues affecting our assignments, our promotions, our fam- ilies, our working conditions and the future of our profession. It was therefore sad to see the efforts of a fewhighly placed State Department officials to discredit the AFSA poll and dis- miss the heartfelt opinions expressed by thousands of our col- leagues. (See p. 65 for details.) While management in any organization might not wish to hear sometimes critical feed- back from employees, creative leaders use such feedback to make changes, shift priorities anddowhatever needs to be done to reverse negative perceptions. Denying that those percep- tions even exist is no way for management to deal with a pro- foundly loyal, motivated work force. And excoriating AFSA for trying in good faith to gauge and represent the opinions of itsmembers all over the world is just shooting the messenger. It was sad to see a few highly placed State officials dismiss the heartfelt opinions expressed by thousands of our colleagues.