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Leadership Statement (2014)

The Civil Service Leadership Statement was developed during the 2014 Civil Service Reform Plan. The idea was to collect ideas from Civil Service employees (1000s took part) about what characteristics made a good leader, and collate this into a leadership framework. These positive attributes and expected behaviours would then be promoted throughout the organisation, with the long-term aim of driving cultural change in the workforce. The organisation have also committed to introducing a range of initiatives to develop new leaders. These programmes will align to the statement produced and aim to produce a new set of role models at the Civil Service.


Once thought to be a backward and slow-moving organisation, the Civil Service has recently become more innovative, more digital, more open and more responsive to the needs of service users. Productivity is rising, performance is improving and trust in the Civil Service is at record levels. Alongside these improvements, the organisation is looking to develop its current and future leaders. The Leadership Statement demonstrates the value that is being put on leadership and management skills in large and complex organisations. They are asking their employees, at every level, to assess their current behaviours against the statement and make any behavioural changes necessary. They are also supporting the initiative with a new 360-degree reporting mechanism, measuring performance against the values and behaviours in the statement.

 

Sir Jeremy Heywood, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, described the statement as "a statement of intent, challenging leaders to hold a mirror up to their own behaviours, to be honest about areas they are falling short in, and to take appropriate action to address them" at its one year review. The review explained how the Civil Service have raised awareness of the statement, discussed the impact its had and the next steps it needs to take. 

 

The three values outlined by the statement are as follows:

-Inspiring about our work and its future 

-Confident in our engagement 

-Empowering our teams to deliver

You can also view the statement in full, here. 

 

In order to spread their leadership values and experiences, the Civil Service have also developed a Leadership Statement Blog, which you can access here.