MinnesotaMel

Week 2 done...and in the bidding process

Tour tracker stats: 4% complete, 96% to go in Iraq

Career tracker: 4 years done, 20% complete if I choose to stay with State the minimum of 20 years required to get a full pension...

It is odd to see that number and realize that I have lived in three new countries in 4 years. Using normal tour lengths of 2-3 years, I will probably have the chance to live in only about 8 more countries during the rest of my career, excluding the US.

I am currently having to do the whole bidding process. We usually start bididng about one year before we transfer, and with this being a one year tour, the bidding thoughts had to start almost as soon as I got to Iraq. I had considered extending in my current job here, but our managers announced that they would not be allowing any of us to extend. That is an interesting choice for them to make, no other Embassy Section has made this same policy. It is not necessarily the cost-effective choice...getting someone moved into a new job and someone else moved out to another new job is an expensive proposition. Some have commented that it is s sign they intend to work us to death over the course of the next one year and do not expect there to be anything of value left after we finish this year. I, for one, am hoping this is not the case. So anyway, they made the policy and there seems to be no recourse for appealing it, so I have had to dive into bidding.

I have had some very attractive offers. A good friend in Geneva asked me to come there and work for her. Switzerland sounds like it would be a good place to work, but I really have my heart set on doing either a Financial Management Officer job or a Human Resources Officer job. She does not have either of these open in Geneva at this time. I also received an email from out of the blue from Rome, offering me an A/GSO job there. But once again, I am really hoping for a job that will expand my skill set. Only part of the bid list is out now...the part that covers Iraq and Afghanistan, and I have bid on the positions that interest me. So far, have received no handshake offers on any of those positions, so I may just have to wait until the full list is published later this month.

The act of assigning people to jobs is really an arcane process, or so I think after my limited visibility to it. It really comes down to who you know and who is around the table when the decisions are made than seemingly any tangible knowledge of the bidders and their demonstrated skills. There is some hope...some positions and bureaus are starting to use a 360 degree feedback process for certain key positions. But ultimately I think it will need some high level engagement and involvement in improving the overall annual Employee Evaluation and assignments process before State is actually placing the right people in the right places to get the right things done. There are times when I think State would benefit from a more "military" approach to assignments, especially if it meant sending people to the places where they are most needed and doing more to encourage non-performers into leaving.

posted by MinnesotaMel @ 4:36 AM