What Does Changing and Improving Mean?

Official Civil Service Definition:

Seek out opportunities to create effective change and suggest innovative ideas for improvement. Review ways of working, including seeking and providing feedback.

The ability to identify areas for improvement and take action to make changes is vital. This is a core competency which relates not just to senior positions but is relevant for all staff.

This definition simplified to means:

Using your initiative to look for more efficient and better ways to complete the work and taking steps to make the change happen.

Within the workplace being adaptable, flexible, open and accepting of change being done to you and your area of work.

At senior level this is about identifying and initiating efficiency projects, creating and encouraging a culture of innovation and allowing people to consider and take informed decisions.

How Can I Show this competency?

The ability to identify areas for improvement and take action is important in both a working environment and your everyday life. People who have this skill will actively look for opportunities where an effective change could be made.

It is a vital form of problem-solving that employers will see as hugely beneficial.

So what does it actually mean in the work place?

In your day to day work there are always opportunities for improvement and here are some areas where it can be demonstrated. All of this can be used to feed into your answers whether on the application form or in the interview.

Changing and improving means being able to use your initiative to seek out and to spot improvements.

It is about being aware of how you work and considering how you can get your job done more efficiently.

It is consistently seeking out and identifying ways to develop better products, services or processes.

For managers and indeed all staff, changing and improving is about encouraging innovation among others in the workplace.

It is about learning from a task or project and seeing what has worked well and what has not gone according to plan.

It means allowing your team and co-workers to make their own informed decisions.

What examples could you use?

Good examples to showcase this competency would be: 

When you have taken on new tasks and responsibility with enthusiasm.

Adapted to new ideas, ways of working, a changed environment or location successfully.

Monitor any changes that have been made and see if they were working effectively and have they had a positive impact as planned.

Discovered areas that needed improvement and then acted on them by implementing new processes.

Communicate effectively and clearly with other team members, customers and external stakeholders why a change was needed and how it would improve things going forward.

Questions to Expect in Your Interview

Both the application form and the interview gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your skills in this area and you will be asked to give an example of where you have used them effectively. The questions will most likely be competency based requiring an example of a past situation where you have demonstrated the required behaviours.

Here are some sample questions – take your time and see how you would answer.

Describe a time when you improved the way you work – perhaps found a way to do a task more efficiently.

Tell us about a new product, process or service you devised and implemented in your work.

Describe a project you were involved with which clearly shows your skills in leading and delivering change.

Describe a scenario showing your ability to apply proper governance procedures when managing change.

How to Answer

Answering successfully will be based on a combination of a relevant example structured in the right way and using the STAR Method. 

Here are your guidelines for answering competency questions about Changing and Improving.

1. Use the STAR or IPAR Formulas: Study the lessons on using STAR and IPAR if you haven’t done so yet.

2. Choose the right example: Talk about a decision which is relevant, recent and sufficiently complex. Learn more in this lesson.

3. Be ready for probing questions: They may ask about obstacles and challenges or about what you learned from the process.

4. Show initiative: Show that you have you come up with new ideas, even if not adapted, this demonstrates understanding of the competency.

5. Show adaptability: Change is most often done to us. You must show an ability to accept, to work with and thrive with change.

6. Demonstrate an improvement: Share a time when you have made a positive change that improved a workflow, product or service.

7. Specific example: The best way to show the interviewer that you are capable of changing and improving is to give specific examples of times you have done this in the past.

8. Stay focused: When talking about previous experience, it can be easy to go off track. Stay focused on the question that was asked and give a meaningful answer.

9. Avoid negative outcomes: When talking about changing and improving you have done in the past, make sure you talk about a time that had a positive outcome. You don’t want to share a time you had a great idea, but it actually ended up negatively impacting the situation.