bout de papier, Vol. 7, No. 3 (1990), pp. 40–41
There exists a fundamental asymmetry within the Department of External Affairs. The formal appraisal system, like many other aspects of bureaucratic process, works primarily from the top down. This detrimentally affects not only the employee’s ability to make an informed assignment decision, but also the Department’s ability to accurately evaluate those occupying supervisory positions.
The view from above is frequently at dramatic variance with the experience of those at the working level. These perspectives, while of critical value, are not currently accorded any form of structured expression. Short of corridor and cafeteria chatter, rumour mongering, and the informal, if not entirely disinterested advice offered by representatives of the Bureau of Personnel, there is at present no central point of reference for those wishing to research prospective managers. Without recourse to satisfactory alternatives, Foreign Service Officers are faced with a situation which is unappealingly vague and haphazard given the magnitude of the stakes involved. In a situation where the paper trail means everything, this is not acceptable.
Within External Affairs, it is not difficult to identify managers who are regarded as successful by their superiors, but who may have achieved this reputation at the direct expense of the well-bearing of their subordinates. In such cases, any short-term gains are often dwarfed by longer-term damage to private lives, and, indeed, to the fabric of the Department itself. Conversely, many excellent managers, whose skills have produced sound, consistent, and valuable achievements, have not always received the credit which is their due. The PEG will address these anomalies squarely.
Management skills, whether in personnel, operations, or policy planning, have long been neglected at External Affairs. A good Foreign Service Officer is by no means automatically a good manager. Yet many inadequate managers seem to have prospered, partially because the existing approach to assessing managers is neither designed nor equipped to measure all aspects of supervisory performance. Existing EX (executive) appraisals stress factors which are of limited relevance to officers at the working level and the results are not available to PAFSO members. What remains is a situation in which good managers can be penalized, bad managers rewarded, and professional employees kept in near-complete ignorance.
PAFSO’s objective is to establish a system which will permit Foreign Service Officers to obtain information, contributed by their colleagues, concerning the skills, abilities and characteristics, of the Department’s managers. The ultimate purpose, therefore, of establishing a compendium of managerial evaluations is to encourage a more productive and harmonious matching of professional personalities within the Department. The result will be a more equitable and informed assignment process which will significantly reduce the potential for career disasters. It will also provide a valuable new resource for the supervisors themselves, and for senior managers to use in evaluating the performance of the Department’s middle managerial cadre. Similar exercises have been successfully conducted in universities and in the private sector; there is every reason to believe that the practice will bring equally positive results here.
Participants are initially invited to review the performance of each of the supervisors that they have worked under for at least six months over the previous five years. This will permit the establishment of a substantial data base in relatively short order. Both direct and indirect supervisors (rating and reviewing officers, according to conventional appraisal jargon) will be candidates for annual evaluation. A minimum of five evaluations per manager, prepared by five different officers, are required before the performance of any given individual will be reported. The returns will be handled in strict confidence with access limited to PAFSO staff members. To maintain the integrity of the system, only evaluations with completed cover sheets will be accepted. Each return will be checked to verify the supervisory relationship, and the cover sheet then detached to protect the identity of the author. Both the cover sheets and the returns will be stored securely at the PAFSO office.
The data will be collated and aggregate scores calculated for each category in which performance is being measured. Once the system has been established and the results entered into the data base, the five year running averages will be updated annually as new evaluations are received and old ones dropped from the composite. There is great potential for exploring a variety of advanced statistical techniques and indicators in the search for more subtle or discrete information.
The summary composites will be printed, on an annual basis, as the PAFSO EVAL- UATION GUIDE (PEG), a catalogue of managerial “snapshots” which will be available to Foreign Service personnel upon request. Prior to the release of the results, those evaluated will be offered the opportunity to comment, and these remarks will be presented with the evaluation. The PEG will not be made available to the general public.
It is in the immediate professional interest of PAFSO members to share their accumulated and collective experience on the crucial issue of supervisory performance. Moreover, it is clear that the unique perspective offered by the view from below merits closer consideration than it has been accorded to date. To that end, the distinct nature of working-level insights has been deliberately reflected in the choice of evaluation criteria, some of which have escaped measurement despite their considerable consequence in any balanced assessment of managerial competence.
In a larger sense, the PEG embodies a healthy and open approach to management-staff relations. The ventilation of the Department’s supervisory strata may also assist in introducing new elements of dynamism and sensitivity which are not universally evident at present. Perhaps most important is the fact that managerial accountability will be significantly enhanced, and a new dimension of responsibility brought to bear on the assignment and decision-making process.
Progressive, capable managers will view participation in this endeavour with confidence and satisfaction. Quite apart from providing information of interest to those as the working level, the PEG has much to offer all managers who are concerned with their own professional development and who are able to appreciate and derive advantage from the feedback provided by their subordinates. In light of such wide-ranging benefits, PAFSO seeks the full cooperation of senior management in ensuring the success of this initiative.
Foreign Service Officers are today confronted with an unprecedented array of structural, economic, demographic and professional challenges. It is therefore imperative that PAFSO members respond creatively and move decisively to advance their legitimate interests. Improving the quality of Departmental management is an essential prerequisite to further constructive action.
The time is overdue for cranking open the louvres from below and shining some clear, dry light upwards. The implementation of the PEG system will effectively serve the interests of PAFSO members and bring enduring benefit to the quality of professional life within the Department.
PEG Post Script
PEG documentation was despatched to all PAFSO members in mid February. The cooperation of all recipients in ensuring the timely submission of carefully completed evaluation forms is essential to the success of this venture. If you have not done so already, please submit your returns through Departmental facilities to the PAFSO office immediately to permit the presentation of available data in advance of the forthcoming assignment cycle. Additional forms are available upon request. This is PAFSO’s chance to make a distinctive contribution to the professional life of its members, and to the quality of Departmental management.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 7, No. 3 (1990), pp. 40–41. Read the rest of this issue →
