Civil Service Changing and Improving Behaviour Guide
Changing and Improving asks whether you make things better and help others through change. Panels want a real change, your own part in it, and a sign you thought about the people affected. This guide explains what it asks for, how the expectation moves across every grade from AA to Director General, what strong evidence looks like, the mistakes that cost marks, and how to use STARR and how strengths relate to it.
What does Changing and Improving really ask for?
There are two sides to the behaviour. One is making improvements, by reviewing how work is done and acting on better ways. The other is handling change that arrives from elsewhere, by learning new ways of working, giving feedback and helping others understand why it is happening.
The official wording keeps returning to people, including end users, accessibility and making it safe to challenge. Good evidence shows you considered who would be affected, not only what was quicker.
How does the expectation change from AA to Director General?
Paraphrasing the official Cabinet Office wording, the main shifts are these.
- AA and AO. Review ways of working and suggest improvements, including digital ones, learn new procedures and help colleagues do the same, and query issues arising from change.
- EO. Regularly review your own and your team's work, take the initiative to suggest improvements, give constructive feedback on change, help colleagues understand its reasons, and consider accessibility.
- HEO and SEO. Work with others to simplify processes, use technology for efficiency, draw ideas from a wide range of sources, explain change and support people with different needs, let colleagues challenge safely, and take managed risks after weighing the impact on end users.
- Grade 7 and Grade 6. Encourage innovative ideas, make changes that add value and explain the benefits, consider the impact on culture, structure and morale, spot early signs that things are going wrong, and constructively challenge senior management on change proposals.
- Deputy Director (SCS1). Challenge the way things have always been done, encourage measured risk taking and innovation, make colleagues feel safe to challenge, implement changes that transform quality of service, explain why change is necessary, and lead digital change with accessibility in mind.
- Director and Director General (SCS2 and SCS3). Champion and lead change, create a culture of innovation and responsiveness, take calculated risks, simplify approaches, challenge bureaucratic processes across the Civil Service, and consider the full impact of change on culture and wider government structures.
Scope widens as grades rise, so choose an example that matches the wording for your target grade.
What does strong written evidence look like?
Strong evidence is specific about what you changed, how you brought people with you and what improved. The examples below are invented illustrations, not templates.
Example at AO. "When our office moved to a new case management system, I noticed colleagues kept asking the same questions about saving records. I wrote a one page guide with screenshots, tested it with two less confident colleagues, and ran two short walk through sessions. I also logged four system issues, and the project team fixed two. Questions on the topic fell away."
Example at HEO. "Our monthly returns involved six spreadsheets and three sign offs. I mapped the steps with two colleagues and asked regional staff which they found least useful. I proposed one shared template and removed a sign off that duplicated a check, accepting the risk that errors would be caught later and agreeing a spot check to manage it. I explained the reasons to the team and checked the template worked with screen readers. Preparation time fell from three days to two, and no errors reached the final return."
Example at Deputy Director (invented and illustrative). "Three of our services each ran separate paper approvals. I challenged the assumption that this was a legal requirement, took advice, and found it was habit. I sponsored a digital pilot in one service, accepted a bounded risk of early problems, and had accessibility tested with disabled users before launch. I explained to the board why change was needed. Approval times halved and two other services adopted the route."
What mistakes cost marks?
- Right behaviour at the wrong level. Evidence that suits Grade 7 can look thin against the Deputy Director wording, so check it against your target grade.
- Team actions instead of your own. "We streamlined the process" hides what you did.
- Duties instead of outcomes. "I am responsible for continuous improvement" is a duty. Describe a specific change.
- Ideas without change. A suggestion nobody adopted is weak unless you show what you did to make it happen.
- Ignoring people. Evidence that never mentions colleagues, users or accessibility misses a thread in the wording.
How do you evidence it with STARR?
Keep the Situation short, naming what was not working or what change was coming. In the Task, say what you owned. Put most words into Action, where your own contribution shows. In the Result, give a concrete change.
Reflection, the second R, is expected from SEO upwards. Below that it is optional but can strengthen an answer if genuine. At interview, a behaviour answer runs around five minutes spoken, so choose one example you can tell clearly in that time.
How do strengths relate to this behaviour?
Strengths are a separate part of Success Profiles. Some sit close to this behaviour, such as Improver, which is seeking better ways and not settling for good enough, and Adaptable, which is staying effective amid ambiguity and change.
Strengths are not named in adverts and are assessed mainly at interview. Answer them quickly and naturally from real moments, not a scripted story.
Where Koda fits
Koda helps you apply this to your own experience. It works from your real evidence and matches it to the role and grade, with nothing invented, and you stay in control of every word.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to have led a major change to evidence this behaviour?›
Not at every grade. At AA, AO and EO, reviewing your work, suggesting improvements and helping colleagues through change are what the descriptors describe. Higher grades expect you to lead change with others or create the conditions for it, so choose an example at the right scale.
What counts as a managed risk?›
It is a risk you identified, weighed and took steps to control, usually with the impact on end users in mind. The HEO and SEO descriptor mentions it directly. Describe what could have gone wrong, why you judged it worth taking and how you limited the downside.
Does my improvement need a number to be credible?›
Numbers help, but only if they are real. If you cannot honestly quantify the result, describe the observable change, such as fewer queries, a faster process or feedback from users, and say how you know it happened.
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Official framework reference: Success Profiles on GOV.UK. Grade requirements and processes vary by campaign, so always follow the specific vacancy advert.