Changing and Improving is the Civil Service behaviour about finding better ways to work, creating effective change and being open to challenge and feedback. It is not enough to spot a problem: strong evidence shows how you turned an idea into an improvement and considered the effect of that change on other people.
The behaviour can cover process improvement, technology, service redesign, adapting to new requirements, simplifying work or challenging an established approach. The strongest examples normally show a clear reason for change, involvement of other people and evidence that the improvement actually worked.
The current Civil Service Success Profiles behaviour guidance is grade-specific, so the level of change you need to demonstrate rises with the role.
What Changing and Improving means
At junior grades, Changing and Improving can be shown by reviewing how work is done, suggesting practical improvements and adapting positively when procedures change. At EO, the emphasis expands to reviewing team activity, suggesting improvements and helping colleagues understand and adopt change.
At HEO and SEO, stronger evidence includes simplifying processes, using technology where useful, encouraging ideas from different sources, explaining the reason for change and taking managed risks after considering the effect on end users.
At Grade 7 and Grade 6, the behaviour becomes more strategic. Strong examples can show creating an environment where people challenge safely, implementing changes that add value, considering technology and accessibility, spotting early warning signs and constructively challenging senior change proposals.
What the behaviour looks like by grade
| Grade | What strong evidence should show |
|---|---|
| AA / AO | Review ways of working, suggest improvements, learn new procedures, help colleagues adapt and respond effectively when change is required. |
| EO | Review your own and the team’s work, suggest improvements, respond positively to change and help others understand what is changing and why. |
| HEO / SEO | Work with others to simplify processes, use technology where useful, encourage ideas, support people through change and take managed risks after considering impacts. |
| Grade 7 / Grade 6 | Create space for innovation and challenge, implement changes that add value, consider culture, technology, accessibility and end users, and challenge senior proposals constructively. |
Choosing a strong example
Choose an example where something was genuinely improved. A strong story might involve removing unnecessary steps, automating repetitive work, redesigning a service, responding to customer feedback or changing an approach that was no longer delivering the right result.
Make the “before” and “after” clear. The panel should understand what was wrong with the old approach, how you knew it was a problem, what options you considered, how you involved others and what changed once your solution was implemented.
Changing and Improving 250 word statement
In a 250 word statement, establish the problem and why improvement was needed quickly. Then focus on how you diagnosed the issue, generated or tested ideas, involved other people, managed resistance or risk and implemented the change.
Finish with evidence of improvement. Time saved, reduced errors, lower cost, better user feedback or improved delivery are much stronger than simply saying the new process was well received.
Changing and Improving example
The existing example below is useful because it gives a concrete improvement story rather than treating “change” as simply coping with a new instruction.
Changing and Improving interview questions
Typical Changing and Improving questions include:
- Tell me about a time you improved an existing process.
- Describe a time you challenged the usual way of doing something.
- Tell me about a change that other people resisted and how you handled it.
- Give an example of when you used technology to improve efficiency.
- Tell me about a time an improvement did not work as expected. What did you do?
- How do you encourage other people to suggest improvements?
- Describe a time you had to balance the benefits of change against risk or disruption.
Common mistakes
- Describing a change that somebody else designed while you simply followed it.
- Suggesting an idea but never showing how it was implemented.
- Ignoring the people affected by the change.
- Claiming an improvement without evidence that anything got better.
- Using a senior example that shows no challenge, risk, stakeholder involvement or wider impact.
Need an example for your grade? Choose the relevant statement or interview question below. Each guide is written for a different level of responsibility, so use the one that matches the vacancy rather than copying a more senior example.
250-word behaviour statements by grade
Interview questions for senior grades
Related Civil Service guides
- Changing and Improving interview questions – HEO
- Changing and Improving interview questions – SEO
- How Civil Service behaviours are scored
- Civil Service Success Profiles complete guide
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