HEO and SEO Civil Service Behaviours
At HEO and SEO level, panels look for leading pieces of work and often people: setting goals and priorities, working across teams and organisations, weighing evidence and risk, and developing others. SEO examples usually show more scale and influence than HEO ones.
Below are the published descriptors for all nine behaviours at Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grade or equivalent. The advert lists which behaviours your role uses.
Seeing the Big Picture
Examples of seeing the big picture at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- understand the strategic drivers for your area of work
- align activities to contribute to wider organisational priorities
- remain alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact your work area
- seek out and share experiences to develop knowledge of the team’s business area
- understand how the strategies and activities of the team create value and meet the diverse needs of all stakeholders
Changing and Improving
Examples of changing and improving at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- work with others to identify areas for improvement and simplify processes to use fewer resources
- use technology where possible to increase efficiency
- encourage ideas for change from a wide range of sources
- clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change
- encourage an environment where colleagues know that they can challenge decisions and issues safely
- take managed risks by fully considering the varied impacts changes could have on the diverse range of end users
Making Effective Decisions
Examples of making effective decisions at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- understand your own level of responsibility and empower others to make decisions where appropriate
- analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions
- invite challenge and where appropriate involve others in decision making
- display confidence when making difficult decisions, even if they prove to be unpopular
- consult with others to ensure the potential impacts on end users have been considered
- present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other options, costs, benefits and risks
Leadership
Examples of leadership at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- ensure colleagues and stakeholders have a clear understanding of objectives, activities and time-frames
- take into account different individual needs, views, and ideas, championing inclusion and equality of opportunity for all
- consider the impacts of own and team’s activities on stakeholders and end users
- role-model commitment and satisfaction with role
- recognise and praise the achievements of others to drive positivity within the team
- effectively manage conflict, misconduct and non-inclusive behaviour, raising with senior managers where appropriate
Communicating and Influencing
Examples of communicating and influencing at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- communicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner - choosing appropriate styles to maximise understanding and impact
- encourage the use of different communication methods, including digital resources and highlight the benefits, including ensuring cost effectiveness
- ensure communication has a clear purpose and takes into account people’s individual needs
- share information as appropriate and check understanding
- show positivity and enthusiasm towards work, encouraging others to do the same
- ensure that important messages are communicated with colleagues and stakeholders respectfully, taking into consideration the diversity of interests
Working Together
Examples of working together at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- encourage joined up team work within your own team and across other groups
- establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders
- collaborate with these to share information, resources and support
- invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another
- put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs
- make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable
- actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives
Developing Self and Others
Examples of developing self and others at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- identify capability gaps for yourself and your team
- ensure development objectives are set and achieved to address any gaps and enable delivery of current and future work
- take time to coach, mentor and develop other colleagues to support succession planning
- promote inclusiveness by respecting different personal needs in the team and use these to develop others
- reflect on your own work, continuously seek and act on feedback to improve own and team’s performance
Managing a Quality Service
Examples of managing a quality service at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- develop, implement, maintain and review systems and services to ensure delivery of professional excellence
- work with stakeholders to set priorities, objectives and timescales
- successfully deliver high quality outcomes that meet the customers’ needs and gives value for money
- identify risks and resolve issues efficiently
- involve a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders and delivery partners in developing suggestions for improvements
- establish ways to find and respond to feedback from customers about the services provided
Delivering at Pace
Examples of delivering at pace at HEO and SEO grade or equivalent are when you:
- show a positive approach to keeping the whole team’s efforts focused on the top priorities
- promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation
- ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively
- regularly monitor your own and team’s work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks
- act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance
- allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility
Descriptors from Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours (GOV.UK). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Their use here does not imply endorsement.
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