Embassy New Delhi, India and Constituent Posts - OIG - US ...

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED
Informal Recommendation 1: Embassy New Delhi should develop a comprehensive
strategy for allocating responsibilities among senior staff, particularly the Ambassador
and the deputy chief of mission, for engaging with senior Indian counterparts in
furtherance of mission objectives, including Washington agencies where appropriate.
This is a very busy embassy. Some employees work a long day and then well into the
evening, in part because the time difference with Washington means coordination takes place
after hours. A constant flow of visitors and an increasing number of bilateral working groups add
to the workload, though they are, for the most part, a welcome and necessary part of a growing
relationship. The Ambassador and DCM have instituted a work/life balance initiative to help
employees increase efficiency and spend less time in the office through, among other things,
more flexible working hours. While this initiative has had a positive impact in the consulates
general and on many embassy employees, its effect in a number of offices in the embassy has
been to take away 30 minutes at the end of the work day and make it more difficult for some
managers to ask staff members to stay later when necessary. The OIG team did not find areas for
significant time savings since the agenda for this embassy is so broad, and getting things done in
India is extremely difficult. However, the senior leadership of the embassy should regularly
address this problem to determine whether there are ways to reallocate or relieve workload to
benefit the most hard pressed personnel. Among other things, they should coordinate with
Washington agencies to try to reduce taskings of the embassy staff where possible and make
DVCs more compatible with the working day in New Delhi. Also, before assigning any
significant new task or program, the front office along with the senior staff should determine
what other tasks and programs can be modified or dropped. Finally, the Ambassador and DCM
can reduce, to the degree possible, last-minute taskings, which are another cause of late nights in
the office.
Informal Recommendation 2: Embassy New Delhi should assess what tasks and
programs can be modified or dropped when the front office, with senior staff, propose to
undertake a significant new task or program and should minimize last-minute taskings to
the degree possible.
The Ambassador has well-honed political skills, a real advantage in a large democracy
such as India. He also is an engaging leader, greeting all staff members warmly and giving them
positive feedback and encouragement. The Ambassador could reinforce these contacts with more
engagement with staff below the level of the country team. For example, he could visit a section
or agency once a month. (He met with sections and agencies individually soon after he arrived at
the mission, and this was much appreciated.) He could also increase his visits to the consulates
general, combining them with public diplomacy/commercial promotion events, something that
both the American and Indian staff would welcome. The locally employed (LE) staff was
appreciative that the Ambassador held a DVC with them on the pay freeze and made an appeal to
the Department on their behalf.
The DCM has been at post for about 7 months and has made a very positive impression
on the staff, including those in the consulates general, each of which he has visited twice. He is
both engaging and willing to engage. Acting as chief morale officer, he is concerned about
improving the quality of life of the embassy community. (The OIG team was pleased that the
Ambassador placed morale issues, including the most important of them – housing – in his top
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SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED