A

Awareness ?Learn more about skills levels

As you move into the SCS, there is an expectation that you already have an awareness of all ODP core skills and therefore the minimum expectation is that you would be at Working Level / Developing Level. 

Recognising that you do not require ‘Awareness’ this is foregone and you progress through the 7 capabilities assessing your current expertise from the minimum expectation for SCS ‘Working’ through to ‘Expert’ level. 

W

Working ?Learn more about skills levels

SCS1: 

• Actively builds relationships which will enable them to deliver on their portfolio, communicating across teams and then more widely with peers, stakeholders, suppliers and senior leaders.
• Develops and shares knowledge/expertise through those relationships, creates honest dialogue, seeks to understand different perspectives, works through challenges and builds trust.

SCS2: 

• Communicates into teams and across peers in addition to actively looking outwards, building relationships with other government organisations, inter-departmental groups and external organisations to benchmark, share good practice and promote the profession.
• Creates an environment where teams have interactions at the right level and work with internal and external stakeholders to identify system challenges and opportunities, mitigate risks and deliver an efficient and quality customer experience.

SCS3:

• Adopts a strategic lens in identifying and building adequate collaborative relationships with ministers and permanent secretaries.  Builds multi-disciplinary teams to enable service delivery, anticipating needs of key stakeholders to reach shared agreements, handling resistance and briefings with confidence, empathy, and resilience.
• A member of the board who develops trust and buy in at pace and scale influencing modernisation of services and challenging as appropriate to secure buy in.

P

Practitioner ?Learn more about skills levels

SCS1:

• Develops peer credibility by working collaboratively with operational delivery professionals, influencing at a senior level within their own organisation.
• Pre-empts the needs of diverse stakeholders and groups, including trade unions and suppliers, proactively engaging, communicating with and drawing on expertise to shape strategy and support deliver.

SCS2:

• Creates the structures and governance across the system, to bring together stakeholders and partners to share their valuable insights and different perspectives and empowers teams to proactively mitigate risks.
• Builds shared perspectives and trust across the organisation, through open communication and transparency, allowing information to flow freely to those in the system who need it.

SCS3:

• As an advocate for the profession proactively identifies opportunities to lead with empathy, building trust and influence at all levels including externally and actively seeking to understand insight from service delivery. A core influencer proactively using expertise and intuition to robustly brief and advise ministerial decision making and shaping the views of the media and across professions.
• Collaborates proactively with board colleagues as a member or in chair capacity. Knows and predicts the political cycle bringing their professional expertise whilst recognising both the wider organisational and external context, to develop strategy.

E

Expert ?Learn more about skills levels

SCS1:

• Takes a strategic view balanced with focus on the detail when shaping and delivering on business outcomes, influencing stakeholders both inside and outside of their organisation and driving a brilliant customer service.
• Influences peers and is sought out across departments for their support and expertise as well as being an advocate for the profession. Ensures there is an honest feedback loop with senior stakeholders, speaking truth to power on what works well and what does not, and contributes to Ministerial decision making.

SCS2:

• Advocates for the profession, for change, transforming and modernising services - influences, challenges and gains trust with staff, stakeholder groups and partners at all levels, securing buy-in.
• Adopts a strategic lens, ensuring Permanent Secretaries/Ministers are briefed fully including on potential risks and vulnerabilities, when making decisions. Handles strong resistance with confidence and resilience, anticipating the needs of stakeholders and acting with empathy to create shared agreements.

SCS3:

• Fully embraces their leadership position as a role model for the profession expertly developing trust with ministers, permanent secretaries, and external organisations. Shows enthusiasm for their profession as an enterprise leader encouraging leaders to focus on organisational outcomes and working on behalf of the whole organisation developing a network of key partners in which they can influence. 
• Has an expert understanding of when to challenge and is able to do so confidently and effectively whilst maintaining and developing relationships with a range of stakeholders including fellow board members .