Civil Service behaviour: Working Together (with STAR example)

Updated · By the Tick the Spec team

Working Together is about forming effective partnerships and relationships with people both inside and outside your team, and supporting them to succeed. Success Profiles describes it as creating an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are taken into account, sharing information and resources, and supporting colleagues' wellbeing. A strong statement shows one situation where your actions helped a group of people work better together, especially across teams, and what that achieved.

A note on changes (November 2026)

In July 2026 the Civil Service announced it will scrap Success Profiles in favour of a model that emphasises skills and expertise. At the time of writing we could not find a published replacement on GOV.UK, and many adverts still ask for behaviours. Follow the advert you are applying for.

What assessors look for, by grade

  • AA/AO (Level 1): being approachable, helping colleagues, sharing information and being considerate of others' needs.
  • EO: building contacts beyond your own team, sharing knowledge, listening genuinely, fostering an inclusive environment, and making clear that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable.
  • HEO/SEO: encouraging joined-up teamwork, building professional relationships with stakeholders, putting wellbeing support in place, seeking input from people with diverse perspectives.
  • G7 and above: building partnerships across organisations and sectors, and creating a culture of collaboration.

Step by step

  1. Choose an example where cooperation was not automatic: different teams, a new colleague, a conflict, a shared problem.
  2. Explain the situation briefly and what was at stake.
  3. Show your own actions: reaching out, sharing information, listening, adapting.
  4. If relevant, show attention to inclusion or wellbeing.
  5. Show the outcome for the work and for the relationship.

Examples from outside work are welcome. The Success Profiles candidate overview says examples can come from work, volunteering or hobbies, as long as you make clear how they show the behaviour.

Worked example (fictional, AO level)

Invented for illustration. The person and details are fictional.

Situation: I work as an administrative officer in a correspondence team. Letters that needed input from our finance colleagues were often delayed because each team was waiting for the other.

Task: I wanted to help clear the delays, although managing the process was not my formal responsibility.

Action: I asked my manager if I could contact the finance team directly. I arranged a short call with one of their officers to understand what information they needed from us and why queries were sitting in their inbox. I found we were sending incomplete details, so they had to send them back. I made a simple checklist for our team showing exactly what finance needed, and shared it at our team meeting. I also agreed with the finance officer that I would send a weekly list of urgent cases rather than individual emails. When a new colleague joined our team, I went through the checklist with her on her first day so she felt confident.

Result: Within two months, letters waiting on finance had reduced noticeably, and our managers asked the two teams to keep the weekly list. The finance officer and I now sort out problems quickly by phone.

About 230 words. It shows Level 1 and some Level 2 indicators: sharing information, building a contact beyond the team, helping a new colleague.

How behaviour statements are scored

Many departments score each behaviour on a 1 to 7 scale, and a Defra Digital blog post describes needing at least 4 on each assessment to move on; the candidate pack will say if different rules apply. When there are many applications, some campaigns sift first on a "lead" behaviour, usually the first one listed, so make that statement especially strong. Statements are usually read without your name, and text over the word limit may be ignored, so check the limit on the advert.

Other examples that can work

  • fixing a hand-off problem between two teams
  • supporting a new or struggling colleague
  • building a relationship with an external partner or another organisation
  • resolving a disagreement within a team
  • sharing knowledge or a resource that helped others

Pick the one where your own actions are clearest and the result is real.

Common mistakes

  • Describing being part of a good team without saying what you did.
  • A story about doing everything yourself, which can suggest the opposite of working together.
  • Blaming another team. Describe the problem neutrally and focus on the fix.
  • No outcome for the work.
  • Ignoring inclusion at higher grades, where it is an explicit indicator.

Tick the Spec asks what you personally did and who you worked with, then helps you shape your real example to the indicators and word limit.

Read next: STAR method examples for supporting statements (250 words) · Civil Service grades explained: AA to Grade 7 (what each expects) · Success Profiles scrapped: what it means for Civil Service jobs

Sources

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