Insights focused decision-making: plain text
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From: Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation
- Published on: 2 April 2025
- Last updated on: 14 May 2025
- Understanding issues
- Gaining evidence
- Evaluating evidence
- Innovation
- Identifying connections
- Evidence-based decisions
- Decision-making
- Adaptability
- Evaluating decisions
Asking questions and evaluating evidence and ideas, to create insight and understand the whole
Understanding issues
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Ask questions to understand problems or issues
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Ask questions to explore issues and understand underlying causes
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Take a disciplined and open-minded approach to understand and define organisation issues and their root causes
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Take a systemic approach in understanding and framing emerging organisation and sector issues
Gaining evidence
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Accurately retrieve and collate data to inform decisions
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Identify potential sources of evidence (e.g. internal data, professional opinion and external practice) and how best to acquire them
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Acquire and source multiple sources of evidence (e.g. internal and external professional expertise, research and stakeholder concerns and values) to test assumptions and ideas
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Oversee the acquisition and sourcing of internal and external evidence to inform people strategy
Evaluating evidence
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Accurately analyse and evaluate evidence to support objectivity and be aware of potential bias
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Objectively evaluate evidence taking into account its quality and limit potential risk of bias
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Objectively analyse and evaluate multiple sources of evidence to create insight, identifying sources of bias
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Develop organisation capability to create evidence-based insight that will shape people and organisation strategy
Innovation
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Contribute ideas using a reasoned approach
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Assess the quality of your own ideas and ask questions about others’ ideas and proposals
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Collaboratively develop and improve the quality of ideas and proposals
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Build capability to develop new ideas and move organisational thinking forward
Identifying connections
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Summarise data and evidence accurately and effectively
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Summarise evidence findings and identify key ideas, insights and connections
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Assimilate evidence and ideas to identify themes and connections and gain insight on the whole issue and its wider implications
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Apply a systemic approach when bringing together people and business insight, to create people and organisation value
Evidence-based decisions
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Apply agreed procedures and policies and available sources of evidence to make choices
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Solve problems and make choices by applying evidence relevant to the specific situation
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Make well-judged decisions by considering all available evidence in the context of the specific situation
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Make complex and timely decisions in line with available evidence, the strategic context and professional values when there are unknowns
Decision-making
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Identify possible solutions and seek support / escalate when a decision is required
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Identify the different options or solutions available and the benefits and risks of each
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Consider different options and make decisions by balancing opportunity, risk and alignment to professional values
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Create an environment where others are empowered to make decisions, whilst overseeing risk
Adaptability
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Be open to new information and changing circumstances
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Adapt and reflect on your approach and choices in light of new information or changing circumstances
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Adapt your decisions and practices to take account of current and anticipated changes and uncertainties in the business environment
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Anticipate changes in the organisation environment, and manage complexity and ambiguity to evolve people strategy
Evaluating decisions
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Seek to understand the outcomes of your actions, applying learning for the future
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Understand how your choices and actions impact on wider performance
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Demonstrate commitment to evaluating the outcome and impact of your decisions to inform your future approach
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Promote a culture that recognises the value of measuring outcomes and evaluating the impact of decisions