Developing Self and Others: the Success Profiles framework

Developing Self and Others means focusing on continuous learning and development — for yourself, for the people around you, and for the organisation as a whole. It is assessed at every grade, and each grade has its own level descriptor saying what good looks like.

What the behaviour actually means

The Success Profiles framework defines Developing Self and Others as focusing on continuous learning and development — for yourself, for others and for the organisation as a whole. It covers three commitments: you keep learning, you help other people learn, and you treat development as part of the job rather than an extra.

In practice, assessors look for a pattern. You know your strengths and where you need to grow. You ask for feedback and act on it, even when it stings. You spend time helping colleagues, apprentices or whole teams build their skills. A training course you simply sat through is not enough.

How the level descriptors work

The framework does not use one definition for everyone. It sets out level descriptors — one per grade or grade group from AA and AO up to the Senior Civil Service — describing what this behaviour looks like at that level.

Each level builds on the one below. Junior levels focus on you: being open to learning, seeking feedback and sharing what you know with immediate colleagues. Middle levels add actively coaching and developing the people around you. Senior levels are about creating the conditions for learning across teams, directorates and whole organisations.

For example, at AO a strong statement might describe acting on feedback after a till error and asking to be re-trained. At Grade 7, the same behaviour would look like running a learning needs analysis across four teams and protecting time for development.

Assessors score your statement against the descriptor for the grade you applied for. A strong AO-level example will not score well at HEO, where the descriptor expects you to develop others deliberately, not just yourself.

How the levels map to grades

The mapping is a ladder of widening scope. Use it to check whether your example is big enough for the grade you want.

If your example only shows you learning something, it tops out around AO. To score at HEO or SEO you need evidence of you creating learning for others. At Grade 7 and above, assessors expect organisational reach, with numbers to match.

The four themes assessors look for

Whatever the grade, strong statements in this cluster draw on four themes. You rarely need all four in 250 words, but knowing them helps you pick your strongest evidence.

• Self-awareness — you can name your strengths and gaps, and chose learning that targeted a real gap.
• Acting on feedback — you sought criticism out, changed something specific, and can show the difference it made.
• Coaching and mentoring — you gave structured, patient support to a colleague, apprentice or team.
• Creating learning opportunities — you built something others could use: a skills matrix, shadowing arrangement or development plan.

The higher the grade, the further down that list your statement needs to travel. Self-awareness alone reads as junior; creating opportunities for others at scale reads as senior.

How to use the framework when you write

Start with the level descriptor for your target grade, not with your favourite story. List what the descriptor expects, then choose an example that ticks most of it. Give around 60% of your words to the Action.