Making Effective Decisions HEO Example Statement (250 Words)
At HEO, assessors look for structured judgement: you gathered the right evidence, compared genuine options against cost, risk and policy, and decided with a clear rationale you could defend. Show a decision with real consequences for a service, customer or budget, and include how you handled uncertainty.
Example statement
SI work as a claims handler for a home insurance provider. A customer claimed £8,000 for water damage after a heating pipe burst, but the policy wording was unclear about damage discovered weeks after the leak started.
TMy manager asked me to assess the claim and make the settlement recommendation.
AI treated it as an evidence question first. I reviewed the customer's photos and plumber's report, then commissioned an independent engineer's inspection, which cost £250 but was the only reliable way to date the leak. The engineer concluded the pipe had failed suddenly, not gradually, which mattered because the policy excluded long-term seepage. I reread the exact clause and found two previous internal cases with similar wording where the company had paid. I weighed three options: pay the full £8,000; decline on the seepage clause; or settle with a contribution reflecting the customer's late reporting. Declining risked a justified ombudsman complaint given the engineer's finding, and full payment ignored the three-week delay in reporting. I recommended a settlement of £6,800, covering repairs but not the redecoration the delay had worsened. I wrote up my reasoning against the clause, had it countersigned by my manager, and explained the calculation to the customer in plain language. I also logged a suggestion that the wording be tightened at the next policy review.
RThe customer accepted within a week and withdrew their complaint. The settlement saved £1,200 against the full claim, and our quality audit later scored the file fully compliant.
Use this as a model, not a script. This is an original example written for this site. Adapt the structure to your own experience — copying it word for word risks plagiarism and will not reflect your evidence.
Why this scores well
- Commissions the right evidence (an independent engineer) to resolve an ambiguous policy question rather than relying on opinion.
- Weighs three settlement options against policy wording, precedent and ombudsman risk, and lands on a defensible middle course.
- Shows accountability: written rationale, countersign-off, plain-language explanation, plus a suggestion to fix the wording for the future.
What HEO level requires
| Grade | What assessors expect |
|---|---|
| EO | At EO, making effective decisions means gathering and interpreting information from several sources, weighing options within policies and procedures, and making timely decisions on your own caseload or area of work. |
| HEO ← this page | At HEO, making effective decisions means analysing information from a range of sources, identifying the real options, weighing evidence, cost and risk, and making sound judgements on issues affecting your team or service. |
| SEO | At SEO, making effective decisions means making robust judgements on complex operational issues: interpreting varied and sometimes conflicting evidence, balancing risk, cost and service impact, and deciding at pace with clear accountability. |
Common mistakes at this level
- Failing to say what authority you had, leaving the assessor unsure whether the decision was yours to make.
- Ignoring risk entirely: no contingencies, no review point, no thought about being wrong.
- Using an example where someone senior actually decided and you simply implemented their choice.
Frequently asked questions
EO decisions sit inside clear policy with information close at hand. HEO decisions involve ambiguity: incomplete data, competing priorities, or a policy that does not quite fit. Assessors expect you to interpret evidence, construct options that were not handed to you, and justify your choice against cost and risk.
Yes, if you genuinely made the decision. Temporary or acting roles count fully. What matters is that the judgement was yours: you gathered the evidence, chose between options and owned the outcome. Say what authority you held at the time so the assessor understands the decision sat with you.
Most departments ask for 250 words per behaviour at HEO, but check the advert as some ask for 500. Keep context to two or three sentences and give the bulk to your actions: the evidence gathered, options constructed, trade-offs weighed and the rationale recorded. End with a quantified result.
Next step
Get the free HEO statement template pack — the same STAR structure used in this example.
Download the template pack