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Behavioural competencies

Please select the level relevant to the role you are being interviewed for and familiarise yourself with the behaviours.

Delivering a positive Customer experience

We deliver what we promise, listen and respond to customers' needs, and always look to improve the experience for all customers, internal and external.

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Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Champions a customer-focused culture across the organisation with a stated customer vision that drives business performance.
  • Role-models positive customer-focused behaviours bringing to life the SRA's customer service vision.
  • Regularly gathers customer insight to drive improvements to the customer experience.
  • Regularly reviews what products/services our customers need.
  • Stimulates an environment where staff are encouraged to be creative in delivering a positive customer experience.
  • Ensure that everyone (not just those in customer facing roles) understands how their role contributes to a positive customer experience.
  • Is ambivalent around customer experience.
  • Finds it difficult to understand differing customer needs.
  • De-prioritises gathering and acting upon customer feedback.
  • Is closed to hearing suggestions from staff around how to improve the customer experience.
  • Shows little commitment to making sure customer experience is prioritised.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Role-models positive customer-focused behaviours and helps embed this across the SRA.
  • Gathers and responds to feedback from customers about their experience.
  • Develops the teams' skills and capabilities to provide positive customer experiences and provides appropriate feedback and recognition.
  • Promotes the need to improve processes and systems to deliver positive customer experiences.
  • Ensures that complaints and mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities.
  • Encourages staff to be upfront where mistakes have been made.
  • Supports staff when dealing with inappropriate customer behaviour.
  • Has minimal interest in improving the customer experience.
  • Takes little or no action when customer needs are not being met.
  • Establishes unrealistic or confusing priorities and plans leading to inefficiency in delivery of customer experience.
  • Fails to take note of customer feedback.
  • Finds it difficult to put oneself in the 'customers shoes'.
  • Is biased when dealing with customers' concerns.
  • Is negative, unhelpful or overly narrow in approach.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Actively develops the necessary skills to deliver a positive customer experience.
  • Is courteous and sensitive in establishing customers' needs, taking a proportionate response to their requests.
  • Reacts constructively to customer feedback and, where appropriate, makes changes as a result.
  • Constantly looks for ways to improve the customer experience.
  • Manages customers' expectations and delivers what they promise.
  • Takes responsibility for customer issues and works to find solutions.
  • Is confident and skilled in dealing with inappropriate customer behaviour.
  • Shows little interest in building customer experience skills.
  • Has a standard rulebook-like response, treating all customers the same.
  • Acts without thinking through the necessary steps and disregards the customer's needs or circumstances.
  • Disregards customer feedback as irrelevant.
  • Shows a lack of desire to improve the quality of the customer experience.
  • Treats customers disrespectfully or makes unrealistic commitments.
  • Is unclear about making reasonable adjustments to accommodate customer needs.

Leading and engaging

We model our behaviours and engage authentically with stakeholders, staff and peers. It's about involving others and being involved.

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Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Shapes, promotes and models our values and behaviours.
  • Consistently delivers inspiring, engaging and meaningful messages about our purpose, vision and achievements.
  • Successfully negotiates with and influences stakeholders at the highest levels, securing mutually beneficial outcomes.
  • Visibly engages staff by actively involving them in what is changing.
  • Leads from the front, communicating and motivating staff towards the delivery of organisational goals.
  • Actively promotes equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) with staff and stakeholders.
  • Acts in ways which are at odds with our desired culture, values and behaviour.
  • Damages the reputation of the leadership internally and externally.
  • Misses opportunities to communicate messages, or gives a confused or uninspiring narrative about what is important.
  • Lacks confidence with or insight into the different motivations and agendas of stakeholders.
  • Relies on 'tell' and 'sell' methods of communicating.
  • Is rarely available or visible to staff.
  • Is unable to articulate and inspire people of our vision and goals.
  • Disregards the need to consistently promote EDI.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Visible and accessible to staff and stakeholders. Regularly finds opportunities to engage and build trust, such as in one-to-ones and team briefings.
  • Articulates strategies and plans, giving a clear sense of direction and purpose for staff. Sets SMART objectives.
  • Consistently recognises, respects and rewards staff contribution and achievements.
  • Communicates using appropriate styles in a clear, engaging manner. Stands firm when necessary.
  • Actively supports our values and behaviours, particularly in delivering EDI.
  • Is rarely available to staff and others, and communicates infrequently.
  • Leaves team unclear about their performance objectives and/or the business unit's vision and goals.
  • Fails to recognise individuals or takes the credit for other people's achievements. Inconsistent in their approach.
  • Fails to tailor messages, style and timing to the needs of the target audience. Gives in easily.
  • Is ignorant of and/or dismissive of organisational values and behaviours, such as EDI.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Is enthusiastic about articulating, delivering and assessing personal objectives.
  • Listens to, understands, respects, appreciates and values different views, ideas and ways of working.
  • Expresses ideas effectively, both orally and in writing, with sensitivity and respect for others.
  • Confidently handles challenging conversations.
  • Deals promptly with inappropriate language or behaviours.
  • Conveys enthusiasm and energy about their work.
  • Shows little interest in personal objectives.
  • Adopts a biased, exclusive or disrespectful manner when dealing with others.
  • Demonstrates little awareness of the impact of their behaviour on others.
  • Is unable to deal objectively with conflicts and disputes when they arise.
  • Avoids tackling inappropriate language or behaviours.
  • Communicates information with limited or low levels of enthusiasm and effort.

Collaborating with stakeholders (internal and external)

We work effectively to share information and build supportive, responsive relationships with stakeholders, staff and peers, while having the confidence to challenge and question.

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Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Drives and builds a strong network of collaborative relationships and partnerships across the organisation and with external stakeholders.
  • Encourages transparency and inclusion.
  • Encourages working effectively across boundaries to support the achievement of our objectives.
  • Actively promotes knowledge and resource sharing with peers across directorates.
  • Sets out clear expectations that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable.
  • Creates and allows cliques, promoting a 'knowledge is power' culture.
  • Limits collaboration to existing relationships and is disinterested in building networks.
  • Acts selfishly to protect their own area at the expense of our priorities.
  • Refuses involvement from others.
  • Allows unacceptable or disrespectful behaviour to persist.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Demonstrates genuine care for stakeholders, staff and peers. Builds strong interpersonal relationships.
  • Encourages involvement and ideas from all staff by being visible, accessible and approachable.
  • Deals with conflict in a prompt, calm and constructive manner.
  • Listens openly and attentively to others, and checks their understanding by asking questions.
  • Takes an interest in the work of others. Builds strong internal and external networks to help get the job done.
  • Takes responsibility for creating a working environment that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Neglects to maintain relationships at times.
  • Inaccessible to staff, and fails to show interest and understanding of other people's ideas.
  • Finds dealing with conflict challenging and struggles to respond appropriately.
  • Ignores the knowledge and expertise that a wider network of staff and peers offers.
  • Shows a lack of interest or skill in interacting with others.
  • Adopts a biased, exclusive or disrespectful manner in their dealings with others.
  • Shows favouritism.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Gets to know fellow team and colleagues, and understands their viewpoints and preferences.
  • Works with others inside and outside their own immediate team to help achieve broader results.
  • Seeks help when needed to complete their work effectively. Offers to help others.
  • Tries to see issues from other people's perspectives and checks understanding.
  • Listens, questions and clarifies to understand stakeholder needs. Shows sensitivity.
  • Is overly judgemental of people who have different working styles or development needs.
  • Focuses on own objectives at the expense of supporting colleagues.
  • Misses opportunities to collaborate with others to improve delivery of objectives.
  • Looks at issues from their viewpoint only.
  • Does not treat all colleagues fairly, equitably or with respect.

Delivering quality results

We create and work in an environment that delivers operational excellence and creates the most appropriate and cost-effective delivery models for regulation.

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Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Drives a high-performance culture that delivers quality customer care, efficiency and value for money.
  • Builds and promotes relevant performance, productivity and quality measures.
  • Takes prompt remedial action when necessary.
  • Makes best use of resources for the wider good.
  • Maintains good internal control disciplines by making sure their is a consistent understanding and adoption of policies and processes.
  • Inspires and delegates to teams and individuals to achieve outstanding results, holding them accountable for delivery.
  • Fails to focus on quality and productivity.
  • Fails to make sure accurate and relevant performance data is available, or ignores it.
  • Protects own resources and makes decisions which are not in our best, long-term interests.
  • Ignores or is ambivalent towards policies and processes.
  • Fails to energise staff and/or tackle poor performance results.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Adopts clear processes and service standards for measuring and managing performance of team and individuals.
  • Encourages an awareness of value for money, using clear, simple examples of benefits to stakeholders.
  • Acts as a role model in supporting and energising teams to deliver outstanding results.
  • Plans ahead, reassessing workloads and priorities if situations change or staff face conflicting demands.
  • Coaches and supports others to set and achieve challenging objectives for themselves.
  • Fails to set service standards, monitor quality or tackle poor delivery of results.
  • Ignores value for money considerations
  • Finds it difficult to balance task delivery with motivating and building the team.
  • Shows little consideration for individual or team needs when organising workload.
  • Provides insufficient support or guidance.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Works with energy and pace to get the job done.
  • Understands that all actions have a cost and chooses the most effective way to do something in a resource-efficient way.
  • Takes ownership of issues, coming up with suggestions to resolve them.
  • Takes responsibility for the quality of their own work and keeps manager informed of how the work is progressing.
  • Waits to be told what to do and relies on others to sort out problems.
  • Avoids using recommended tools. Is careless or wasteful with resources.
  • Allows service levels to drop or problems to occur before reporting.
  • Fails to deliver their part of the team's responsibilities and avoids supporting colleagues to get the job done.

Demonstrating appropriate judgment

We are objective and use evidence and knowledge to exercise judgment and make accurate, expert and professional decisions.

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Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Interprets a wide range of economic, environmental, political and social impacts, pressures and influences to develop strategies.
  • Evaluates competing views to progress and achieve organisational goals.
  • Involves relevant stakeholders in consultations early on and continues to engage with them.
  • Articulates options, risks and impacts and develops strategies to progress.
  • Takes quick, confident decisions at a strategic level.
  • Sets the standard for understanding how unconscious bias can influence decisions.
  • Gives limited thought to economic, political or social impacts when shaping strategies.
  • Constantly changes or revisits decisions due to lack of or poor-quality analysis and evidence.
  • Gives recommendations or decisions without proper consultation.
  • Develops strategies without full evaluation of risk, scenarios and options.
  • Procrastinates around making decisions. Fails to fully understand the problem and makes poor decisions.
  • Fails to help the organisation understand how unconscious bias can affect judgment.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Pushes decision making to the right level within team.
  • Makes decisions when they are needed, even if they prove difficult or unpopular.
  • Recognises patterns and trends from a wide range of data and draws key conclusions.
  • Recognises scope of own authority for decision making.
  • Empowers team members to make decisions.
  • Involves others in decision making where appropriate, to help build engagement and develop others.
  • Monitors operations to make sure negative biases are not allowed to influence judgement.
  • Limits involvement in the decision-making process.
  • Misses opportunities or deadlines by delaying decisions.
  • Comes to conclusions not supported by any evidence.
  • Creates confusion and delay by failing to inform relevant people of decisions.
  • Consistently makes decisions in isolation or with a select group.
  • Allows unconscious bias to go unchecked.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Makes and records effective decisions following the decision-making framework.
  • Gathers information from a range of relevant and credible sources, and asks for advice when they are unsure of how to proceed.
  • Undertakes appropriate analysis to support decisions/recommendations.
  • Investigates and respond to gaps, errors and irregularities in information.
  • Thinks through the implications of own decisions before confirming how to approach a problem or issue.
  • Demonstrates an understanding of unconscious bias when exercising judgement.
  • Compromises the consistency and quality of decision making.
  • Encounters problems by failing to check accuracy and relevance of information before using it.
  • Makes decisions or recommendations without the evidence to back them up.
  • Overlooks anomalies in evidence or data.
  • Gives limited thought to the impact of their decisions.
  • Is unaware of how a personal unconscious bias can affect judgement.

Creating a culture of continuous improvement

This is about seeking out and implementing ways to continuously improve the organisation's people, processes and systems.

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Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Champions a culture of continuous improvement which involves people, processes and systems.
  • Promotes organisational commitment to lessons learned, gives and receives feedback, encourages staff to experiment and escalates issues and ideas.
  • Role-models ongoing learning and self-development.
  • Devotes time to supporting and empowering staff through coaching, mentoring and sharing expertise and knowledge.
  • Encourages a culture of curiosity and imaginative thinking, and genuinely listens to ideas from staff and stakeholders.
  • Makes sure recruitment, career development and succession planning processes are equal, diverse and inclusive, providing fairness of opportunity for all.
  • Is ambivalent around the value of ongoing improvement.
  • De-prioritises 'lessons learned' exercises.
  • Is closed to hearing suggestions from staff.
  • Is dismissive of personal feedback and sees personal growth as not relevant to their level.
  • Focuses resources on technical knowledge/skills gaps at the expense of leadership skills or the development of future talent.
  • Creates a punitive environment for risk taking and responsive decision making.
  • Shows intolerance for mistakes.
  • Shows little commitment to making sure there are equal opportunities for all staff.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Role-models workplace learning and encourages staff development.
  • Identifies team's capacity to deliver future team objectives and manages team resources to meet those needs.
  • Encourages colleagues to be responsible for their own development (by giving accountability, projects and ongoing feedback).
  • Proactively manages own career and identifies own learning needs with line manager. Plans and carries out workplace learning opportunities.
  • Welcomes issues and suggestions for improvement.
  • Continually seeks and acts on feedback to evaluate and improve their own and team's performance.
  • Promotes need to improve processes and systems.
  • Does not follow up on training to make sure individuals apply new skills.
  • Allows team capability needs to go unaddressed. Fails to use development opportunities and effective performance management to maximise team's capability.
  • Makes token efforts to coach and develop people, allows staff to de-prioritise own development.
  • Expects others to identify and manage their learning.
  • Prefers not to hear bad news or ideas for improvement.
  • Makes little attempt to learn from feedback or apply lessons learned.
  • Is dismissive of the need to upgrade processes and systems.
Positive indicators Negative indicators
  • Identifies own skills, knowledge and behaviour gaps to inform their own development plan.
  • Works to achieve their own learning and development objectives.
  • Reacts constructively to development feedback and makes changes as a result.
  • Considers and suggests ideas for improvements, sharing with others in a constructive manner.
  • Is open to the possibilities of change. Considers ways to implement and adapt to change in own role.
  • Works to ensure processes and systems are kept up to date.
  • Shows little interest in personal development. Declines opportunities to learn.
  • Does little to follow through on constructive developmental feedback. Ignores or dismisses its value.
  • Is reluctant to consider ways to improve productivity in own area, even when improvements are urgently required.
  • Makes negative comments about change. Is unwilling to consider how change could help in own role.
  • Shows little interest in updating processes and systems.
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