We Support and Inspire (Level 1)

What “We Support and Inspire” Means (CVF 2024)

In the College of Policing Competency and Values Framework (CVF) 2024, we support and inspire is about more than being “nice.” It is the competency of understanding the organisational vision, applying values in day-to-day work, and creating a climate of mutual respect and support so people can do their best work. It also means understanding how your behaviour affects organisational success and helping others deliver shared objectives.

For police constable recruitment, this is not a leadership-only idea. A new practitioner does not need a sergeant’s rank to support and inspire. You do it by how you speak about the job, how you treat colleagues under pressure, whether you notice good work, and whether you help others succeed without turning every interaction into a power play.

If we collaborate is about working with people, we support and inspire is about the climate you create for them: do people leave interactions clearer, more confident, and more professional—or drained, undermined, and cynical?

Why This Competency Matters on the National Sift

The national sift’s Situational Judgement Test (SJT) assesses all six CVF competencies at Level 1. Team and workplace scenarios often test whether you:

• lift standards through example, not just words
• help a colleague who is struggling without taking over their work or shaming them
• recognise and praise good practice
• stay constructive when the team is under pressure
• refuse to join in mockery, gossip that damages climate, or pure self-interest that hurts service delivery

The Behavioural Styles Questionnaire (BSQ) also maps statements to this competency. Claims that you always inspire everyone, never feel frustration, and single-handedly transform every team can look inauthentic. Credible Level 1 patterns sound like: I notice good work; I offer help when someone is stuck; I try to model the standards I expect; I stay constructive when things are difficult.

Level 1 Lens: Practitioner, Not Supervisor

The national sift uses Level 1 (Practitioner) behaviours. That is critical for this competency because “support and inspire” language can tempt candidates into management theatre:

If an SJT action only makes sense for a supervisor rewriting a team’s objectives or launching an organisational initiative, it is usually too high-level for Level 1 effectiveness. Prefer actions a professional colleague could take today.

Core Meaning Broken Down

1. Understand vision and apply values day to day

You do not need to recite a force plan. You do need to connect daily choices to why policing exists: public safety, fairness, professionalism, and service. Supporting and inspiring includes sharing a positive, realistic commitment to policing values—especially when others are cynical.

Cynicism is contagious. So is constructive professionalism. On the SJT, an action that quietly models standards often rates higher than an action that joins a moan session “to fit in.”

2. Create a climate of mutual respect and support

Climate is built in small moments: how you greet people, whether you listen, whether you celebrate others’ successes, whether you exclude or include, whether you weaponise stress against colleagues. Mutual respect means people can ask for help without being mocked.

3. Understand impact on organisational success

Your tone, reliability, and willingness to help affect whether the team delivers. An action that wins you personal convenience but demoralises colleagues or damages public trust is not highly effective under this competency—even if the task finishes quickly.

4. Help others deliver objectives

Support is practical: sharing information they need, covering a genuine gap when appropriate, coaching a small skill, checking they are okay after a difficult call. Support is not micromanaging, grandstanding, or doing everything yourself so you look indispensable.

Level 1 Style Behaviours (Recognition Table)

Use these as recognition patterns for the sift—not as a closed script you must match word for word:

How This Competency Appears on the SJT

You rate each action independently on the five-point effectiveness scale. You may give the same rating to more than one action.

Actions that often rate higher (support-and-inspire aligned)

• Encouraging a colleague who is struggling and offering proportionate practical help
• Praising good work publicly or privately in a professional way
• Modelling calm, respectful standards when the team is tense
• Taking a fair share of challenging work to improve service
• Helping others stay focused on objectives without belittling them
• Creating space for someone to contribute ideas or recover confidence after a setback

Actions that often rate lower (climate damage)

• Mocking a colleague’s mistake or need for help
• Undermining someone to look better yourself
• Refusing all help when a short, appropriate assist would protect service quality
• Taking over completely so the other person learns nothing and feels diminished
• Spreading cynicism, gossip, or contempt that poisons team climate
• Pure self-interest: protecting only your own metrics while the team or public suffers

Balance: support is not rescuing or people-pleasing

Effective support is professional, not limitless self-sacrifice that abandons your own duties, and not empty positivity that ignores real risk or poor practice. If a colleague’s conduct is unsafe or unethical, courage and ownership may require challenge—not false praise. Support and inspire works with standards, not against them.

Common Traps for Candidates

1. Confusing support with taking over. Doing someone’s whole job can look helpful but fails Level 1 support: it removes ownership and can humiliate.
2. Confusing inspiration with speeches. On the sift, inspiration is usually behaviour and encouragement, not a theatrical pep talk.
3. Thinking praise is unprofessional. Specific, sincere recognition is a Level 1 behaviour, not “softness.”
4. Joining mockery as “banter.” Banter that undermines dignity fails respect and empathy and support and inspire.
5. Supervisor fantasy. Designing a force-wide mentoring scheme can be less effective than a concrete peer-level action available now.
6. Positivity that ignores harm. Cheerfulness that papers over discrimination or serious risk is not inspiration; it is avoidance.

Mini Scenarios (Recognition Practice)

Scenario A — Colleague under pressure

A colleague is falling behind on a difficult piece of work and looks stressed. You still have your own tasks.

Scenario B — Team cynicism

During a busy period, several colleagues mock the idea of professional standards and laugh about cutting corners on notes.

Scenario C — Good work goes unnoticed

A quieter colleague handled a difficult public interaction with skill and patience. Nobody comments.

Linking Support and Inspire to Values and Other Competencies

• Respect and empathy: genuine support requires dignity and understanding, not performative help.
• Public service: the point of a healthy climate is better service to the public, not office politics.
• Courage: sometimes inspiring standards means challenging poor behaviour, not only cheering people on.
• We take ownership: you still own your work while helping others.
• We collaborate: support often shows up inside joint working—share load fairly, communicate clearly.
• We are emotionally aware: noticing who needs encouragement is part of reading the room.

Mental Model for Live SJT Rating

Ask of each action:

1. Does this build or damage a climate of mutual respect?
2. Does it help someone do better work without inappropriate takeover?
3. Does it model professional standards under pressure?
4. Is it Level 1 peer/practitioner behaviour, not fake rank?
5. Is encouragement tied to public service and values, not popularity contests?

If the action encourages, models, and constructively supports, it usually deserves a higher effectiveness rating. If it undermines, mocks, or serves only the actor’s status, rate it lower—even when it is socially easy.