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Seeing the Big Picture: Civil Service Behaviour at HEO and SEO
The behaviour Seeing the Big Picture is about understanding how your work connects to wider organisational goals and national priorities. At HEO and SEO grade, you are expected to remain aware of external factors, align your team’s activities to strategic drivers, and make decisions that consider long-term impact on stakeholders and end users.
This behaviour shows that you are not only focused on your immediate tasks but that you also recognise the bigger context. It involves scanning for emerging issues, being alert to risks and opportunities, and ensuring your work contributes to broader objectives across government.
When preparing a 250-word statement for this behaviour, aim to demonstrate:
🌍 A belief statement that shows your commitment to aligning work with wider goals.
🌍 A situation that required you to consider strategic priorities or external influences.
🌍 The actions you took to connect your work to organisational objectives, gather insights, and adapt to trends.
🌍 The results, which should evidence impact at a wider level, such as improved alignment with strategy, stakeholder support, or stronger outcomes for users.
The B-STAR method helps keep your response structured, ensuring you explain context clearly and then focus on your actions and the results achieved. Strong examples will show how you took responsibility for understanding the bigger picture and ensuring your work created value for both the organisation and its stakeholders.
The image above provides a full example statement for Seeing the Big Picture at HEO/SEO grade. Use it as inspiration to frame your own example, keeping the link between your actions and broader priorities clear throughout.
