Other areas in which State respondents gave their agency higher than the government wide rating were: use of teams; respect for individual differences; improved productivity in the past two years; greater flexibility in how work is accomplished; union-management cooperation; and satisfaction with involvement in decisions affecting employees work. Although there was still skepticism expressed about the concept of "reinvention," favorable employee comments included the following: "keep at it", "thanks for bringing such an idea into the workplace", "(it is) beneficial in motivating government employees to work harder to excel."

Areas of Greatest Concern
Employees want more training opportunities. Only 40% felt they were receiving enough training to provide high quality customer service. The State Department ranked slightly below the government-wide tally when respondents were asked if their supervisors were sufficiently understanding and supportive of their family and personal responsibilities. Employees felt that recognition and rewards were not always based on merit. They were also critical of what they perceived as lack of corrective action when employees fail to meet performance standards. Only 27% felt that "good performance" was clearly defined by the Department. More employees this year than last year noted that the Department had not simplified travel regulations. Ninety percent of those surveyed did not feel that the Department had streamlined the process of hiring employees. Employees ranked the Department below the Government-wide average on electronic access to information needed to do their jobs.

Written comments criticized Management for poor communication with employees. Overall, the views on reinvention at State were not positive, with a consistent theme being that reinvention has not penetrated the organization except to increase workloads and decrease staffing. Results appear to indicate a larger percentage of Foreign Service than Civil Service respondents to the survey.

• The School of Leadership and Management at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center is working to provide a full range of training to both Foreign Service and Civil Service employees. The Office of Civil Service Personnel has developed the Department's career development leadership model for civil service employees.
• The Department will soon be providing the resumes of employees' spouses to posts when assignments are made to facilitate family member job placement within the Embassy.
• The Department is making Foreign Service assignments and promotions more competitive by instituting a pilot program for 360 evaluations tied to the assignment process.
• The Department has revised its foreign language competency regulations to recognize and financially reward the use of difficult languages such as Chinese, Arabic and Japanese.
• The Department has revised the evaluation form used for Foreign Service employees to better assess performance and to relate it to the national interests.
• The Office of Civil Service Personnel and the Career Development and Learning Center sponsor regular noon seminars on career and leadership issues.
• A program allowing Civil Service employees to bid on "hard-to-fill" Foreign Service positions overseas is underway.
• The Department has established more flexible reemployment rights for Civil Service employees who wish to take temporary Foreign Service assignments overseas.
• The Department is piloting an Alternate Exam Program designed to provide greater speed and flexibility in bringing employees into the Foreign Service

• Discussions are on-going between the Bureau of Personnel and the National Foreign Affairs Training Center about whether, and what, training should be mandatory for Foreign Service employees, and how it would be implemented.
• The Department plans to make available to all employees a resource referral service that would assist with resolving issues related to child care, elder care, college information, emergency care services, summer camps, pre-natal services, adoption etc.
• The Department continues to pursue bilateral work agreements, which allow spouses of embassy employees to work legally on the local economies in participating countries. Since last summer, 11 agreements have been negotiated or amended, for a total number of 136 in place. Another six should be negotiated this year.
• Over 900 Civil Service employees have signed up for the Leadership Competency Program to address the future needs of the Department when "baby boomers" retire.
• The Department will implement the Labor Management Partnership initiatives of E.O. 12871

The Report of the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel (OPAP) is based on interviews with several hundred Foreign Service, Civil Service and Foreign Service National employees in Washington and at 26 posts overseas. OPAP was formed in the aftermath of the 1998 bombings of the American Embassies in East Africa to consider the future of America's presence overseas. In their report to the President, the OPAP members stated, "What is most striking to any visitor to our posts overseas is the remarkable job being done by a cadre of dedicated, hard-working men and women--often in adverse and even dangerous circumstances. When we saw what these talented and resourceful people are accomplishing in representing America, we became all the more committed to giving them the support they need to get the job done."

CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION
Department of State, Bureau of Personnel
202-647-2675