"Our backroom was chaos, and there was barely enough room to manoeuvre. The safety station wasn't anywhere near where it needed to be, either. I examined the layout of that workspace and drafted a schematic that would improve workflow and safety measures and suggested it to management. They were impressed and gave me the go-ahead to reorganise, which I did, and received many compliments for how much this improved morale and productivity."

As detailed by the Civil Service, they are interested in hiring civil servants who are always changing and improving. "People who are effective in this area take initiative, are innovative and seek out opportunities to create effective change. For all staff, it's about learning from what has worked as well as what has not, being open to change and improvement, and working in 'smarter', more focused ways. For leaders, this is about creating and encouraging a culture of innovation and allowing people to consider and take informed decisions. Doing this well means continuously seeking out ways to improve policy implementation and build a leaner, more flexible and responsive Civil Service. It also means making use of alternative delivery models, including digital and shared service approaches, wherever possible."

Your interviewer is not only curious about how driven you are to develop yourself as a professional but also whether you constantly look for opportunities to implement improvements in the workplace for yourself and others. These are trademarks of leadership potential. Think about the last time you implemented changes in the workplace that had a positive impact and benefited the team as a whole.