Promotions

Promotions are arguably the most contentious issue associated with a Foreign Service career (on par with bidding/assignments).  In the wake of promotion panel results, eligible employees are either ecstatic or frustrated depending on whether they were promoted or not.  It is at this time that emotion—not objectivity—rules the day for both camps which share something oddly in common; the lack of retrospect as to the outcome.  
 

Distilled to their simplest form, promotion results are the intersection/culmination of an employee's assignments, work, and writing.  With few exceptions (and however disputed this assertion may be), this trifecta generates consistent results year after year.  Likewise, promotion panels have followed the same predictable procedure for the last 20 years, if not longer*.  Regardless of an employee's status (eligible or not), she/he should conduct and objective assessment of their circumstances and consider the following:
 

1) Assignments - Is the employee's career track aligned with the Career Development Plan (CDP)?  The CDP is the agency's road map and expectation for employees who desire to rise through the ranks.  If an employee chooses assignments simply based on personal desires that do not align with the CDP, it is simply unrealistic to expect the agency to promote her/him.  The CDP offers a broad spectrum of opportunities for employees to meet both personal and professional goals.
 

2) Work - Does the employee's work indicate she/he is prepared to assume positions of increased responsibility?  Does the employee understand the greater context of their work, take the equities of other stakeholders into account, demonstrate collaboration and effective communication, and does the employee seek opportunities to perform work that has strategic impact?  If, year after year, an employee's work reflects routine program management at the same level—regardless of how hard an employee worked and/or if they performed this work in a war zone—it will be insufficient to get promoted.
 

3) Writing (Employee Evaluation Reports - EERs) - Do the employee, their rater, and reviewer write well?  When questioned, the answer is almost always a resounding "Yes!"  However, the reality often times is in sharp contrast to the employee's biased self-assessment.  Employees never like to admit they have a weakness, but humility is a key leadership trait more employees need to adopt/embrace.  Everyone has faults and weaknesses.  The key is to identify and correct/improve upon them.
 

Employees who get promoted bask in the glory of the results and either chalk the outcome up to how hard they worked (or some other personal cause) or simply don't care because they did in fact get promoted.  These attitudes are short-sighted as employees should examine the outcome in the context of their personal circumstances coupled with panel feedback, their scorecard, and promotion statistics.  An indifferent attitude may cause them to overlook something they should improve upon moving forward.  Without such a review, they may take their advancement for granted expecting the same outcome during consideration for their next promotion.
 

Employees who get passed over are often suffocated by frustration, become highly cynical and critical of the system, and fail to triage the process, their circumstances, and their actions.  This attitude is compounded with each successive year that passes with the same outcome.  It is not uncommon for employees to publicly state their "acceptance" that they will not get promoted.  Such a capitulation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and is readily visible in the employee's work and communication.  Even more so than an employee who got promoted, an employee who is passed over should triage their circumstances, panel feedback, scorecard, and promotion statistics.  
 

In regards to scorecards, many employees opine that a "mid-rank" score tells them nothing and/or is not helpful.  It is true that the mid-rank score is somewhat vague and not definitive, but it does convey one thing very clearly—that the employee was not competitive that year.  Use that information in conjunction with the wealth of other information available to employees, and make changes accordingly (be it the work assignments, and/or writing). 

In summary, the path to getting promoted is relatively simple (which is not synonymous with “easy”).  Follow the CDP, seek out positions of increased responsibility, pursue work opportunities that have strategic implications/outcomes, and strengthen your communications skills.  Each year, prior to and following the promotion panel, review your records, circumstances, and panel outcomes and make the necessary adjustments to ensure you remain as competitive as possible.  
 

*Some years back after hearing significant criticism of the DS promotion process from colleagues, I questioned three friends who served on promotion panels and asked that they describe to me the process they exercised. As background, the three friends were from different cones, served on promotion panels different years (three panels across 4 years), and did not know each other. Each one describe—almost verbatim—the exact same process which to me demonstrated consistency and transparency. Their feedback was also in sharp contrast to a popular (unsubstantiated) narrative/urban legend about how promotion panels operate. 

Questions or comments pertaining to this post can be sent to me at ProDevelopment @dssaa.org. 

Mathew A. Shedd

DSSAA Vice President

Despite assertions to the contrary, scorecards are actually very useful tools to aid employees in evaluating their performance—at least in the eyes of promotion panels. Scorecards are located on your HR Online profile. What do the scorecard results mean? There are five possibilities:

1) Not eligible/considered for promotion – you will not get a score;

2) Eligible/considered and were low-ranked;

3) Eligible/considered and were mid-ranked – you will not get a score and that can be frustrating, but despite the vagueness, it still tells you something.  If it was your first or second time being considered, it may be just a bit early, but if you’ve been considered three or more times and still getting mid-ranked, you need to change something; your work, your writing, who informally reviews your statements, or all of the above.  

4) Eligible/considered and recommended, but not promoted – you’re tracking and should maintain what you’re doing.  While not a guarantee, it’s a strong indicator you will be promoted the following year.

5) Eligible/considered and promoted – you probably don’t care what your scorecard says because you got promoted (let’s be honest), but you should.  Understand how strong your ranking was and where you fell within your peers who were promoted.  

Many employees dismiss scorecard data/results, especially when mid-ranked.  No single piece of data will tell you everything you need to know, but this information collectively completes a puzzle—or at least enough of the puzzle—to explain the outcome; positive, neutral, or negative.  If one is low-ranked, clearly they should be in damage control mode and take immediate action. If one is mid-ranked, the lack of further feedback makes it seem useless. If one is recommended for promotion, they know they’re on the right track, and if one is promoted, they usually don’t even care how they were ranked (bad approach as it means something moving forward). 

If you are mid-ranked several times, it may be that it is just too soon and the Department is not promoting people in that skill code that quickly, however, if you have been considered and not recommended and/or promoted after three looks, it’s time to change tactics. Ask yourself if your work and how you are writing about it signals to a promotional panel that you are prepared to assume more responsibility.  Consider an assignment that builds out your experience and skills. Do you need to take an HQ assignment?  Consider changing your writing style and who reviews your EER (even if the current reviewers are strong). 

So go to HR Online, pull up your employee profile, and check your scorecard!