Our Behaviours¶
At CDS, our values are brought to life through specific behaviours. This framework sets out what those behaviours look like at each seniority level — so that expectations are clear and career progression is transparent.
Seniority levels¶
| Level | Brief description | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Leadership | Accountability for organisation-wide strategy, outcomes, and direction | Organisation |
| Principal | Highly experienced, V-shaped professionals providing leadership and deep expertise, with significant organisational accountability | Organisation |
| Lead | Experienced practitioners who are adaptable and flexible, with roles which contribute beyond the day-to-day to growing CDS | Department |
| Mid | Broad level covering skilled practitioners across the majority of "doing" roles in the business | Team |
| Associate | Entry level roles across disciplines and departments | Self |
Tenacity¶
We are determined and diligent. We never look for the path of least resistance, and we take pride in all our achievements.
Practitioner Excellence
Demonstrates strong performance with core skill set and shows a desire to expand skills in other areas. Seeks opportunities to learn new techniques and approaches, building a solid foundation of capability.
Proactivity and Drive
Brings enthusiasm to their work and resilience when facing challenges, maintaining a constructive attitude that energises those around them. Approaches obstacles with determination and a problem-solving mindset.
Practitioner Excellence
Demonstrates strong performance with core skill set and actively looks to expand skills in other areas. Champions their core skill set within CDS, sharing expertise with colleagues and contributing to capability discussions.
Proactivity and Drive
Brings proactive energy to driving work forward, approaching obstacles as opportunities and maintaining team morale through difficult periods. Takes initiative to overcome challenges and inspires others through their determination.
Practitioner Excellence
Displays excellence with core skill set and is capable of taking on varied responsibilities. Champions their core skill set within CDS, serving as a go-to expert and mentor for others developing their capabilities.
Proactivity and Drive
Brings infectious optimism combined with determined execution, inspiring teams to push boundaries whilst keeping spirits high in complex situations. Creates momentum through their energy and maintains focus on ambitious goals.
Practitioner Excellence
Displays excellence with core skill set and is strong at taking on varied responsibilities. Champions their core skill set within CDS as a go-to person for others, setting standards for Practitioner Excellence and mentoring future experts.
Proactivity and Drive
Brings visionary drive that motivates the organisation, balancing ambitious goals with sustainable energy and fostering a culture where positivity fuels performance. Creates organisational momentum that inspires people to achieve exceptional results.
Practitioner Excellence
Sets the vision, ambition and direction for CDS including associated technical credibility across all disciplines — operations, commercial, client service, delivery, technology and strategy. Cultivates environments where expertise thrives, ensures standards are forward-looking and robust, and makes strategic decisions grounded in a deep understanding of our people, culture, technology, risk and client outcomes.
Proactivity and Drive
Brings constructive ambition and a calm resolve. Steadies the organisation through uncertainty, energises people with clarity and removes the noise. Maintains focus on long-term value even when faced with short-term pressures. Creates organisational momentum, not dependency.
Togetherness¶
We're united in our common purpose, working collectively to transform our clients' organisations for the better.
People-First Mindset
Willingly helps teammates, shares knowledge openly, and prioritises team success over personal recognition. Contributes positively to team dynamics and actively supports colleagues in achieving shared goals.
Commercial and Business Acumen
Shows awareness of how their work contributes to client value and business outcomes, asking questions to understand the commercial context of decisions. Demonstrates interest in the broader business impact of their activities.
People-First Mindset
Actively collaborates across teams and disciplines, breaking down silos and ensuring collective success over individual achievement. Builds bridges between different groups and fosters a culture of mutual support and shared ownership.
Commercial and Business Acumen
Understands project budgets and client commercial drivers, making decisions that balance delivery quality with cost-effectiveness. Contributes to commercial discussions and identifies opportunities to maximise client value within constraints.
People-First Mindset
Leads in a way that empowers teams and encourages working together, building collaborative cultures and recognising team contributions above individual wins. Creates environments where diverse perspectives are valued and collective success is celebrated.
Commercial and Business Acumen
Exercises strong commercial judgement across projects, identifying opportunities for value creation, managing complex budgets, and contributing to commercial discussions with confidence. Balances client needs with business sustainability and growth.
People-First Mindset
Thinks at an organisational level to eliminate hero culture, creating systems and environments where diverse teams achieve exceptional results together. Shapes how CDS operates to ensure collaborative success becomes embedded in everything we do.
Commercial and Business Acumen
Thinks strategically about commercial matters that shape client relationships and business direction, influencing major commercial decisions and identifying new market opportunities. Positions CDS for sustainable growth whilst maintaining client value focus.
People-First Mindset
Unifies the organisation. Dissolves internal barriers, removes friction, role-models collaboration across disciplines, and creates systems where individuals and teams succeed collectively rather than through isolated heroics. Understands that their behaviour, actions and decisions shape culture — and acts accordingly.
Commercial and Business Acumen
Thinks and acts like custodians of the business. Evaluates decisions through the lens of long-term sustainability, client value, risk and return. Ensures CDS remains financially resilient, strategically positioned, and commercially well-judged.
Integrity¶
We always do what we say we will. We are honest, open and accurate — without exception.
Integrity and Honesty
Acts with honesty in all interactions, speaking up when something doesn't feel right and admitting when they don't know something. Builds trust through transparent communication and ethical conduct in all situations.
Open Communication
Communicates clearly and proactively with teammates and clients, providing timely updates on progress and challenges. Receives feedback with openness and willingness to learn, asking clarifying questions to understand how to improve.
Integrity and Honesty
Acts with integrity in decision-making and client interactions, having difficult conversations when needed and building trust through transparency. Demonstrates ethical leadership in challenging situations and role-models honest communication.
Open Communication
Maintains transparent, frequent communication with clients and colleagues, proactively managing expectations and addressing issues before they escalate. Provides timely, specific feedback to colleagues that focuses on actions and outcomes, helping others improve whilst also seeking feedback on their own performance.
Integrity and Honesty
Maintains strong integrity in complex situations, role-modelling honest communication with colleagues and clients even under pressure, and creating psychologically safe environments. Sets the tone for teams and ensures standards are upheld consistently.
Open Communication
Sets the standard for clear, honest client and team communication, ensuring stakeholders are aligned and informed throughout engagements. Delivers challenging feedback with care and clarity, creating dialogue that drives improvement and regularly coaching others on how to give and receive feedback effectively.
Integrity and Honesty
Provides ethical leadership that sets the standard for the organisation, ensuring integrity is embedded in everything CDS does. Creates the conditions for ethical decision-making and transparent conduct across all levels of the business.
Open Communication
Establishes communication excellence as an organisational standard, ensuring transparency in all client and internal interactions. Models exceptional feedback practices across the organisation, fostering a culture where constructive challenge is expected and valued.
Integrity and Honesty
Upholds uncompromising ethical standards. Acts with independence of judgement, even when decisions are uncomfortable, complex or scrutinised. Creates an environment where truth can be spoken, concerns can be raised without fear, and transparency is the default, not an aspiration.
Open Communication
Creates organisational norms for transparent, courageous communication at all levels — with clients, across teams, and throughout leadership. Sets the behavioural standards and psychological safety that enables challenge, and ensures both communication and feedback flow vertically and horizontally as habitual practice.
Curiosity¶
We are never afraid to ask, what if? or why? or how?. We are inquisitive and intrigued to learn or discover a better way.
Adaptability
Remains flexible when priorities shift or approaches change, staying open to feedback and new ways of working. Embraces change as an opportunity to learn and demonstrates willingness to step outside their comfort zone.
Continuous Improvement
Displays curiosity about better ways of working, actively seeking feedback and learning from experiences to develop their skills. Shows initiative in identifying opportunities for personal development and skill enhancement.
Adaptability
Responds with agility to changing client needs and project dynamics, helping teams navigate uncertainty whilst maintaining momentum. Shows strong desire to take on responsibilities outside their comfort zone, embracing new challenges.
Continuous Improvement
Commits to improving processes and practices, experimenting with new approaches and sharing learnings with others. Identifies inefficiencies and takes action to address them, contributing to the evolution of team practices.
Adaptability
Shows resilience in complex, ambiguous situations, pivoting strategies when needed and helping others embrace change constructively. Comfortable operating outside their comfort zone and demonstrates versatility across varied responsibilities.
Continuous Improvement
Leads improvement initiatives, identifying systemic issues and implementing changes that benefit multiple teams or projects. Champions innovation and creates frameworks for sustainable improvement across the organisation.
Adaptability
Excels in navigating organisational change and market shifts, setting the tone for how CDS responds to uncertainty and evolves its approaches. Demonstrates strategic flexibility and is comfortable making decisions with imperfect information.
Continuous Improvement
Holds strategic vision for organisational improvement, championing innovation and establishing practices that elevate CDS's delivery excellence. Creates frameworks and systems that enable continuous evolution of capabilities and approaches.
Adaptability
Anticipates change rather than reacts to it. Adjusts strategies thoughtfully and brings people with them through uncertainty. Helps the organisation stay agile and match fit rather than defensive or reactive.
Continuous Improvement
Changes how the organisation works — not just how their part of it works. Identifies patterns, root causes and structural constraints, and addresses them. Stewards innovation by creating a safe space for experimentation, learning and organisational evolution. Improvement becomes cultural, not sporadic.
Challenging¶
We challenge the status quo. We positively and proactively look for ways to improve, innovate and inspire.
Leadership
Takes ownership of their own tasks and commitments, looking for opportunities to support others and contribute beyond their immediate responsibilities. Demonstrates accountability and seeks ways to add value to the team.
Client Obsessed
Shows awareness of customer needs and how their work impacts the end user or customer experience. Asks questions to understand client objectives and considers the customer perspective in their daily work.
Leadership
Leads initiatives and individuals, driving work forward and inspiring others through their actions and approach. Takes accountability for outcomes and empowers team members to take ownership of their contributions.
Client Obsessed
Maintains consistent focus on outcomes, making decisions that prioritise client success and advocating for customer needs. Builds strong working relationships with clients and anticipates their needs proactively. All decisions made have our clients at the centre.
Leadership
Leads teams and complex initiatives, taking accountability, creating environments where people thrive and delivering outcomes through others. Develops leadership capability in team members and shapes how work is approached and executed.
Client Obsessed
Possesses deep understanding of client and customer challenges, shaping approaches around value and building lasting client partnerships. Acts as a trusted adviser who anticipates client needs and delivers strategic insight. All decisions made have our clients at the centre.
Leadership
Leads across the organisation, taking strong accountability, influencing culture and direction, mentoring leaders, and shaping how CDS operates. Develops leadership capability at scale and ensures the organisation has the leadership strength needed for future success.
Client Obsessed
Maintains strategic focus that influences CDS's direction, ensuring client success remains central to how we grow and evolve. Shapes organisational strategy around deep understanding of client needs and market dynamics. All decisions made have our clients at the centre.
Leadership
Shapes direction, culture and consequence. Challenges organisational assumptions, invites challenge to their own thinking, and treats curiosity, challenge and opposing views as a sign of health, not disruption. Holds themselves and others to account for the long-term success of the company — even when it requires difficult decisions.
Client Obsessed
Maintains a strategic understanding of the markets and communities we serve, acting as trusted advisers rather than passive suppliers. Engages clients with courage and empathy — challenging assumptions, offering alternative perspectives, and guiding decisions that lead to better outcomes. Recognises that in the mission-critical environments we support, failure is not merely inconvenient but consequential.