State Uses Critical Elements of Workforce Planning and Is Hiring and Assigning Officers Overseas with the Necessary General Skills

State used critical elements of workforce planning to identify Foreign  Service officer staffing and skill gaps within the next 5 to 10 years. direction and program goals. In 2001, the Secretary of State launched the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative  (DRI), a $197.5 million plan to address the staffing and skills deficits to  ensure diplomatic readiness. State Has Met Its Hiring Targets but Gaps in Mid- Level Officers Will Take up to 10 Years to Fill

State has met its hiring targets for fiscal years 2002 and 2003. State Has Hired and Assigned Foreign Service Officers with the General Skills and Competencies to Do the Job

Almost all officials we interviewed said State identified and hired very  talented and capable junior officers with the general skills and  competencies, such as written and oral communication, required to do  their jobs well, noting that the examination process was identifying junior  officers with the needed skills. In addition to the language issue, State officials and some junior  officers expressed other concerns, including the junior officers’ public  diplomacy skills, supervision, and on-the-job training requirements, as well  as issues related to rotational positions. State’s Effort to Address Critical Languages Lacks Numerical Targets, Data on Effectiveness

State has acknowledged that it has gaps in the number of officers proficient  in certain hard languages, but its workforce planning does not identify the  number of officers to hire with those skills. However, State  officials said the department is revising this system. The ability to speak a difficult language is one of many factors influencing a  junior officer’s assignment to an overseas post. Conclusions

Critical gaps in the number and skills of Foreign Service staff endangered  State’s ability to carry out U.S. foreign policy. State has been able to hire junior officers with  the general skills it requires and to fill overseas positions. State should also explore additional  opportunities to maximize assignment of junior officers who have skills in  these languages to overseas posts where they can use these languages. Scope and Methodology

To report on State’s processes for determining the number and skills of  junior officers it needs during the next 5 to 10 years, we examined  workforce planning documents and data, including the overseas staffing  model. To examine the challenges State still needs to address, especially regarding  officers with hard-to-learn language skills, we solicited data from three  different State Department databases.
Why GAO Did This Study

During the 1990s, the State Department lost more people than it hired. The resultant shortfalls in the number and skills of Foreign Service officers have endangered U.S. diplomatic readiness. Furthermore, recent studies, including several by GAO, have questioned whether State's recruitment system identifies people with the appropriate skills and whether State is assigning officers with specialized skills, such as the ability to speak a difficult language, to positions where they can be utilized. GAO was asked to review State's processes for determining the number and skills of junior officers the department needs and to determine whether it is hiring and assigning officers with the general skills to carry out foreign policy overseas. GAO was also asked to examine the challenges State still needs to address, especially regarding officers' foreign language skills.

What GAO Found

State used critical elements of workforce planning to identify the number of junior officers it needs to hire within the next 5 to 10 years. State implemented key elements of workforce planning, including setting strategic direction and goals, identifying gaps in its workforce, and developing strategies to address these gaps. State's analysis showed that it had a deficit of 386 positions, mainly at the mid level, and in 2001, State launched a $197 million plan to address the gaps. State has met its 2002 to 2003 hiring targets for junior officers and is filling overseas positions with junior officers with the general skills and competencies required to do their job well. However, State officials said it will take up to 10 years to hire and promote junior officers in sufficient numbers to significantly decrease the shortage of midlevel officers. While State is able to fill overseas positions with junior officers who have the necessary general skills, the department continues to face challenges filling the gaps in staff with proficiency in certain hard-to-learn languages, such as Arabic and Chinese. State has implemented a plan to target applicants who speak these difficult languages. However, this plan does not include numeric goals, and State has collected limited data to assess the effectiveness of its efforts. Other challenges include new officers' public diplomacy skills and training in this area, increased supervisory and on-the job requirements when State assigns junior officers to positions above their experience level, and the impact of rotational assignments on junior officers' performance and managers' time.