“Delivering at Pace” is one of the most misunderstood behaviours in the Civil Service Success Profiles framework.
Most applicants think it means “working fast.” They write statements about staying late, answering emails at midnight, or rushing through a project to meet a deadline.
This is wrong. In fact, if you write about rushing, you will likely fail.
In the Civil Service, “Delivering at Pace” actually means delivering with control. It is about maintaining performance under pressure, prioritizing effectively, and ensuring quality doesn’t drop when the workload spikes.
If you are applying for an Executive Officer (EO) or Higher Executive Officer (HEO) role, this guide will show you exactly how to structure your 250-word statement to pass the sift.
What Recruiters Are Actually Looking For
The Civil Service Success Profiles define this behaviour as: “Take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.”
But what does that look like in practice?
The “Busy Fool” Trap
A common mistake is describing yourself as a “hero” who did everything yourself because the team was overwhelmed.
- Bad Example: “We were short-staffed so I worked overtime every night to clear the backlog.”
- Why it fails: This shows poor planning and a lack of resilience. It’s not sustainable.
The Winning Approach
Recruiters want to see systems, not just sweat.
- For EO Grades: Show how you manage your own workload. Do you use a specific system (like a Kanban board or Excel tracker)? How do you react when your manager gives you a new urgent task?
- For HEO Grades: Show how you manage others’ workloads or complex projects. How do you decide what gets dropped when resources are tight? How do you keep stakeholders informed when delays happen?
The Golden Rule: The STAR Method
As with all Civil Service behaviours, you must use the STAR method. It is the only way to fit a complex story into 250 words.
- Situation (10%): What caused the pressure? (e.g., staff sickness, new legislation, sudden deadline).
- Task (10%): What did you need to achieve?
- Action (60%): What specific steps did you take to control the situation?
- Result (20%): What was the outcome? (Use numbers!).
Example 1: Executive Officer (EO) Level
Use this style for operational roles, case managers, or team support roles.
The Scenario: You are a Case Manager. Sudden staff sickness means your team is down by 50%, but the targets remain the same.
The Statement:
(Situation) In my role as a Case Manager, our team faced a sudden 50% reduction in staff due to sickness during a peak reporting period. We were at risk of missing our Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of clearing 50 cases per week, which would have delayed payments to vulnerable customers.
(Task) I needed to maintain service delivery and ensure high-priority cases were processed on time, despite the reduced resource, while maintaining accuracy standards.
(Action) I immediately reviewed my personal workload and categorized cases using a “RAG” (Red, Amber, Green) rating system based on urgency and customer vulnerability. I identified 15 “Green” administrative tasks that could be paused without immediate impact and sought approval from my manager to deprioritize them. I then reorganized my day, allocating specific 2-hour “power hours” for focused processing without email distractions. I also created a shared tracker for the remaining team members to flag complex cases early, preventing bottlenecks. I communicated realistic timescales to customers whose non-urgent cases were delayed, managing their expectations proactively.
(Result) Despite the staffing crisis, I personally cleared 120% of my target volume that week. The team successfully met the KPI for all “Red” priority cases, ensuring no vulnerable customer went without payment. My prioritization system was later adopted by the team leader as a standard business continuity process.
Why this works:
- It uses a system: You mentioned “RAG rating” and “power hours.” This shows you work smart, not just hard.
- It protects quality: You didn’t just rush; you prioritized vulnerable customers.
- It manages expectations: You told customers about the delay. This is a key part of “Delivering at Pace.”
Example 2: Higher Executive Officer (HEO) Level
Use this style for policy leads, project managers, or team leaders.
The Scenario: You are leading a project. A stakeholder suddenly changes the requirements two weeks before the deadline.
The Statement:
(Situation) I was leading a project to roll out a new internal software tool to 200 staff. Two weeks before the launch, the IT Director requested a significant change to the user interface to align with new branding guidelines.
(Task) I needed to incorporate this change without missing the hard launch deadline, as training sessions were already booked. Failing to deliver would have wasted £3,000 in training costs and damaged the project’s credibility.
(Action) I conducted an immediate impact analysis to see how this change would affect our timeline. I realized we could not deliver the full change and the full rollout simultaneously. I proposed a phased approach to the Director: we would launch the tool on time with the old branding but apply the new branding in a “Phase 2” update one week later. I negotiated this compromise by explaining the financial risk of cancelling the training. Once agreed, I re-allocated two developers from non-critical testing tasks to focus solely on the branding update preparation. I held daily 15-minute “stand-up” meetings to monitor progress and unblock issues immediately.
(Result) The tool launched on the original date, allowing the training to proceed as planned and saving the £3,000 cost. The branding update was successfully deployed 5 days later. The Director commended my ability to maintain momentum while remaining flexible to changing business needs.
Why this works:
- It shows negotiation: You didn’t just say “yes” to an impossible request. You proposed a solution (Phased approach).
- It focuses on resources: You moved developers from one task to another. This shows you can manage resources dynamically.
- It quantifies risk: You mentioned the £3,000 training cost. This shows commercial awareness.
How to “Civil Service-ify” Your Own Experience
If you are coming from the private sector (e.g., retail, hospitality, or admin), you might feel like your experience isn’t “fancy” enough. Don’t worry.
The Civil Service loves retail and hospitality examples for “Delivering at Pace” because those environments are naturally fast-paced.
- If you worked in a shop: Talk about how you managed the Christmas rush. Did you re-deploy staff to the tills? Did you pause stock-taking to focus on customers? That is “Delivering at Pace.”
- If you worked in a restaurant: Talk about a night the kitchen went down. How did you manage customer expectations? How did you prioritize orders?
- If you are a student: Talk about managing conflicting dissertation deadlines. How did you plan your time? Did you use a Gantt chart?
Key Buzzwords to Use
Sprinkle these words into your statement to sound like a Civil Servant:
- Prioritized
- Resource allocation
- Stakeholder expectations
- Business continuity
- Quality assurance
- Agile / Stand-up meetings
- Impact analysis
3 Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Focusing on “Long Hours”: Never say “I stayed until 8pm.” It suggests you can’t manage your time during the day.
- Blaming Others: Don’t say “My colleague was lazy so I did their work.” Say “Due to a resource gap…”
- Forgetting Quality: Always mention that you checked your work. Delivering fast is useless if the work is full of errors.
Final Thoughts
“Delivering at Pace” is about being the calmest person in the room when the fire alarm goes off.
It is about having a plan, sticking to it, and adjusting it when reality hits. Whether you are an EO processing visas or an HEO writing policy, the core skill is the same: Control.
Show them you have a cool head and a clear system, and you will pass the sift.
Next up in this series: How to write a ‘Making Effective Decisions’ statement.
Read also: How to Write a ‘Seeing the Big Picture’ Statement for Civil Service (250 Word Examples)