Making Effective Decisions is one of the 9 Civil Service core behaviours. All posts require decision making and it is one the most common competencies examined during the recruitment process.

In this post we take you through a short introduction and we outline what it means in practice. You will discover some common interview questions assessing your skills when making effective decisions and you will learn how to answer successfully.

About the Making Effective Decisions Civil Service Behaviour

Making Effective Decisions or Decision Making as it is traditionally called, is one of the most common competencies required at any level and in most roles.

The formal Civil Service definition is:

Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. Carefully consider alternative options, implications and risks of decisions.

We make personal decisions daily and they can be as small as deciding what to eat for lunch or have more significant consequences such as determining which home or car to buy. In a work environment the ability to make and take decisions is paramount and you will face interview questions exploring this competency at most levels and in most roles.

What Does Making Effective Decisions Mean?

Put into simple terms here is what Making Effective Decisions means in practice.

• Making Effective Decisions means researching, gathering and using data and information accurately to evaluate options.
• It requires that you then follow a proper process and applying sound judgement and reasoning to come to the right solution.
• It also involves taking personal responsibility for your decisions, being confident in explaining them and making sure they are implemented with learning from any mistakes.

Making Effective Decisions Competency Interview Questions

Here are a small selection of competency based interview questions related to Making Effective Decisions taken from the InterviewGold online training system.

How would you answer?

• Talk me through a complex decision you made, where the data was ambiguous or the information led to two different conclusions. (Get answers)
• Give me an example of a time when you made a difficult decision resulting in a successful outcome. (Get answers)
• Give me an example of a time when you had to make a decision in a very short space of time, for example to deal with a major crisis or disaster. (Get answers)

How to Answer Making Effective Decisions Questions

On your application you may be asked to submit a behaviour statement with a number of words. In the interview, questions will be competency based and for both, here are our top tips for a winning answer.

• Describe Your Decision Making Process: In the interview answers and statements, you will need to make clear the process you have adopted in coming to your decisions. Crucially, you must follow departmental or organisational procedures or guidelines without deviation. The process you follow is critical. Employers want to know that you have used a sound approach to making decisions with judgement backed up by accurate data and evidence.
• Show Clear Reasoning: When creating your answer show that you have used your reasoning, insight and objectivity in order to make a decision that will provide the most value and is most likely to achieve success for the specific objective in question. Effective decisions are both an intuitive and reasoned process, showing that you’re careful, thoughtful and considerate.
• Use the STAR Formula: To effectively communicate your strengths and behaviours in your example, use the STAR or IPAR structure, making sure you outline the situation or context and the action you took, as well as a result.
• Show Correct Positive Behaviours: You must show the correct positive behaviours relevant to the role and your level. For Making Effective Decisions these include: Using evidence and data, seeking views of others and considering the risks and impacts.
• Relevant Civil Service Strengths: Refer to the Civil Service strengths dictionary too and include these in your answer. Relevant strengths include being an a problem solver, analytical and above all decisive.

Making Effective Decisions Examples For Inspiration

Decision making competency examples you can choose can relate to a personal or work-related situation. They can be regular or one offs, strategic or operational decisions. Here are some potential scenarios to help refresh your memory when choosing your examples.

Can you recall when a time when you… made a decision about…

• Made a decision about prioritisation of tasks and/or workflow and how to complete them most efficiently
• Decided to change or improve the way you completed a task or project
• Dealing with conflicts, client or employee issues and were required to make decisions to resolve them
• Analysed large volumes of data in order to make a recommendation that was of benefit to the department or team
• Made a correct and difficult decision having considered all alternatives and impacts of each
• Consulted with team members and used past trends to create a fair, balanced solution that all agreed with

How to Write A Sample STAR 250 Word Statement for Making Effective Decisions

We suggest you always use the STAR formula or a similar variant as this is what they expect to see in the Civil Service. The examples you choose to describe must be relevant, strong and clearly show your competence with the Making Effective Decisions behaviour.

With InterviewGold you can get statements and answers fully personalised to you and based on your own real world experiences covering all Civil Service levels from AA/AO right up to G6.

How to get your target Civil Service job with InterviewGold

Here are just 3 ways in which InterviewGold will help you get your Civil Service job.

• Our advanced Answer Builder will create TAILOR MADE statements and answers for application and interview
• Fully personalised to you and including brilliant STAR examples based on your real life experiences.
• You will get detailed 250, 500, 750+ personal statements and answers for behaviour and suitability statements.