US embassy cable - 05CAIRO4805

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 004805 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DIRECTOR GENERAL PEARSON 
ALSO FOR HR/CDA/ML/SPEC - ROMEO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT, APER, EG 
SUBJECT:  OMS OF THE FUTURE:  NEA REGIONAL OMS CONFERENCE - 
CAIRO, EGYPT 
 
REF:  A. STATE 115847 
 
      B. STATE 64893 
      C. STATE 54943 
      D. STATE 32780 
 
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Summary 
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1.  Twenty-eight participants from 21 NEA posts joined the 
eight Cairo OMSes for the first NEA Regional OMS conference 
hosted in Egypt February 21-23.  Conference topics centered 
on the OMS of the future.  Gary Pergl, Director of the 
Office of Career Development and Assignments (CDA), opened 
the conference with an address on his "View of the OMS of 
the Future."  Other conference speakers addressed EERs; 
Cultural Diversity; the Year in Review; E-Diplomacy and the 
OMS Webpage; OMSes from other Diplomatic Missions; SiprNet 
Resources and Microsoft Certification; Bidding and Lobbying; 
and Ambassador Welch's "A-Team of Tomorrow".  DVCs with then- 
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman 
and then-NEA Assistant Secretary of State Bill Burns ended 
the second day.  The final day was devoted to OMS roundtable 
discussions and lessons learned. 
 
2.  The Office of Management and Training Division (OMT) at 
FSI presented two training opportunities on the margins of 
the conference:  "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" 
and "Managing Up."  The first course, offered before the 
conference began and for the first time to an all-OMS group, 
was "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" on February 15- 
17.  At the end of the conference, "Managing Up" was offered 
on February 24.  This landmark conference was open to any 
OMS regardless of level or experience.  End summary. 
 
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Summation of Conference Topics 
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3.  Director of the Office of Career Development and 
Assignments, Gary Pergl, opened the conference with an 
address focusing on timely information on new OMS promotion 
criteria, recently formally presented in cables from 
Washington on the Career Development Program for Specialists 
(refs A and B).  His awareness of OMS issues and willingness 
to discuss them was encouraging and informative. 
 
4.  E-Diplomacy and the OMS Webpage presented by Theresa 
Tierney, Office Management Practice Expert in the Office of 
e-Diplomacy, examined the many resources available to OMSes 
and how the webpage has brought many of those resources to 
one site.  This kind of knowledge-sharing environment is an 
excellent starting point for other post-specific webpages, 
handbooks, etc.  Participants recommended more OMS training 
on maintaining websites and provision of a point of contact 
to help with questions down the road. 
 
5.  OMS Coordinator from HR/CDA Claudia Romeo and Director 
of OMT Donna Stoffer presented a session entitled "The Year 
in Review" and reviewed some of the recommendations from the 
2004 Washington OMS Conference that have been put in motion. 
One overwhelmingly common request from the Washington 
conference was more training, domestically and overseas. 
Washington is beginning to respond.  This regional 
conference brought two training opportunities for OMSes. 
This session highlighted many more courses open to the OMS 
at FSI including:  PK 250 - First Assignment at Main State; 
PK 205 - How to Arrange Travel using Travel Manager 80; PK 
330 - New Ways to Problem Solve; PK 302 - Professional 
Development for the OMS; numerous Fast Track courses; and 
new certification offered through SAIT/OMT giving Microsoft 
certification plus Siprnet, Portal X, and Word comprehensive 
training. 
 
6.  The panel discussion with Junior and Senior generalists 
"What We Expect from Each Other", revealed a surprising 
point.  A-100 training does not include discussion of 
interacting with OMSes.  At the least, junior officers need 
a better definition of OMS roles during their orientation. 
Better would be a combination of some aspects of JO/OMS 
training and sharing of OMS concerns with incoming officers. 
 
7.  A breakout session presented by Cairo's HR Officers 
Shelia Moyer and Angelika Chin discussed "Career Mobility". 
For the OMS this is a well-identified need.  Given that OMS 
advancement is limited, OMSes can consider the Mustang 
program and the Functional Specialization Program (FSP). 
 
8.  "EERs - It's all about You", presented by Pat Keegan, an 
OMS in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and a veteran of 
many promotion panels, was a good refresher with helpful 
guidance and insight into how promotions are negotiated in 
the panel.  One should be proactive and in control of one's 
EER for best possible results.  It would be interesting to 
review examples of high, medium, and low ranked EERs to see 
what the panel sees. 
 
9.  Theresa Tierney presented the SiprNet and Microsoft 
certification presentation was informative and showed the 
need for more training on SiprNet.  More training is 
becoming available at FSI. 
 
10.  "Bidding and Lobbying," a breakout session with Gary 
Pergl and Claudia Romeo, provided excellent information, but 
more information on the actual process would have been 
helpful.  Many OMS spend most of their career overseas and 
the intricacies of the bidding process are not as apparent 
from outside Washington. 
 
11.  The presentation by two FSNs from Embassy Cairo on 
"Cultural Diversity:  A Mosaic of Life" reaffirmed how 
important cultural awareness is at any post.  Its importance 
should be continuously reiterated to Americans in the NEA 
region,and similar FSN presentations should be part of every 
post's new arrival orientation.  The session also reinforced 
the FSN as a valuable resource for asking questions across 
cultures. 
 
12.  The panel discussion including OMSes from the Mexican, 
French, and Italian diplomatic missions in Cairo was 
enlightening and made American OMSes appreciative of 
benefits that come with the OMS track such as pay raises, 
diplomatic immunity, moving allowances, etc.  Participants 
suggested that there should be more outreach at all posts to 
OMSes of other missions. 
 
13.  Ambassador Welch's "A-Team of Tomorrow" was a down-to- 
earth presentation with an inspiring message and positive 
attitude, showing that Ambassadors do make a difference at 
every level of an embassy.  The discussion revealed that 
newly appointed Ambassadors all attend a seminar at FSI, 
which, unlike A-100 for entry-level officers, does include 
segments on working with OMSes. 
 
14.  Digital Video Conferences (DVCs) from Washington with 
Ambassadors Grossman and Burns were well received. 
Participants discussed with Ambassador Grossman the issue of 
employees who were awarded Meritorious Step Increases (MSIs) 
by promotion panels but would not receive them because they 
were at the top step of their grade. Ambassador Grossman 
said he would look into it, and did, with a positive result 
(refs C and D). 
 
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The Parking Lot 
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15.  Throughout the conference participants posted ideas, 
suggestions, and questions on the parking lot bulletin 
board.  These issues, which were discussed at the end of the 
conference, were either of interest to the larger group or 
arose from discussions during smaller group meetings in the 
conference.  These ideas and questions included: 
 
--Should there be an OMS representative at AFSA? 
 
--Improving training OMSes receive on entering the Foreign 
Service to make it more applicable to real situations out in 
the field.  (Note:  Entry-level conference participants felt 
their training was much improved over the training OMSes 
received in earlier years.  End note.) 
 
--Changing the OMS title to something requiring less 
explanation. 
 
--As OMSes often supervise EFMs and LES, leadership and 
management training available to OMSes at all levels. 
 
--What awards are eligible to post on your employee profile? 
 
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Roundtable Discussions 
---------------------- 
 
16.  The OMS Roundtable on the last day of the conference 
offered a forum to sum up issues and options for addressing 
them.  After reviewing the parking lot questions, the four 
areas of interest - promotions; training and knowledge; OMS 
representation; and Y-tours - were identified and discussed 
in small groups. 
 
17.  Suggestions for promotions included:  make entry level 
at Grade 6 instead of 7; create positions that open up 
higher levels of advancement; and budget money to include 
MSIs for those at the top of their step/grade.  Other 
incentives for increase of pay could include IT 
certifications, language designated positions, and the 
Franklin Award.  Supervisors should be encouraged to help 
get "just rewards" for their employees.  OMSes nominated for 
an award should mention it in their EERs. 
18.  Suggestions for training/knowledge included:  Cone days 
(working in the Department in the Cone which you will be 
serving, such as an ECON OMS in the EB bureau); sharing 
knowledge (e.g., via the OMS Webpage); registering for FSI 
Training early as slots fill quickly; using E-Diplomacy as a 
learning tool; opening up new skill codes by getting IT 
certification, for example (Note:  Most conference 
participants felt options for training have opened up more 
in the past few years, but want it to continue.  End note.); 
and having rotational assignments at post, such as one year 
in political and one year in management. 
 
19.  Suggestions for OMS representation included:  improving 
OMS representation by planning for OMS needs in the MPP and 
in the budget (budget proposals should include training; 
promotions/awards; representation funds; regional travel; 
certification; and step increase pay); considering 
professional opportunities such as VIP visits, control 
officer duties, lateral specialist positions, and an AFSA 
representative for OMSes; and considering a bureau for 
OMSes. 
 
20.  Y tours provide excursions for OMSes at higher grades, 
thereby opening up mid and senior level OMS slots for entry 
level.  Possibilities include OMS inspector for the OIG 
team; OMS assignment to the Hill (Pearson Program); a year 
of training (e.g., FSI, business school, self-designed 
professional needs/training).  Other ideas included domestic 
out-of-cone-tours (e.g. HR/GSO/PA/DS training); assignment 
to the Pentagon, FCS, Homeland Security, etc.; rover trainer 
for EFMs and LES; Una Chapman Cox assignment; domestic 
exchange program (i.e., USEU, IDB); OMS recruiter i.e., 
traveling to job fairs); IRM assignment; and an assignment 
to expand e-Diplomacy project. 
 
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Conclusion 
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21.  So what is the OMS of the future?  After two and a half 
days of discussion, participants reached a final 
determination:  the OMS of the future will be a proactive, 
well trained, and knowledge sharing professional, an "A- 
Team" member of the Foreign Service. 
 
22.  This cable was cleared by OMS Coordinator in 
HR/CDA/ML/SPEC Claudia Romeo. 
 
GRAY