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What is today's blog about?
The RICS APC Senior Professional Assessment is suitable for individuals 'with leadership and management responsibilities who are recognised for their impact and career progression'.
In today's blog we will discuss the three Senior Professional competencies and how you can meet them in your final assessment submission.
You can also listen to our CPD podcast on Anchor for more free AssocRICS and RICS APC training and support.
What competencies do I have to declare?
Although you will be following the Senior Professional Assessment route, you will still need to select a RICS APC pathway. This is the area of the professional in which you wish to qualify, based upon your qualifications, work experience and current role.
The full list is available on the RICS website, although it includes pathways such as Building Surveying, Commercial Real Estate, Land and Resources, Planning and Development, Project Management, Quantity Surveying and Construction, Residential and Rural.
Within your chosen pathway, there are specific technical competencies that you need to meet. These are split into core competencies (i.e. primary competencies for your pathway) and optional competencies (i.e. additional skill requirements relevant to your experience and current role).
You also have to meet a number of mandatory competencies, which relate to personal, interpersonal, professional practice and business skills. These are common to all RICS APC pathways.
For the Senior Professional Assessment route, you also then have to satisfy three Senior Professional competencies which demonstrate your leadership and management skills relevant to your senior profile.
These are:
Leadership
Managing People
Managing Resources
All three of these Senior Professional competencies must be demonstrated to level 2, i.e. application of knowledge and understanding.
What is the Leadership competency?
The leadership competency relates to how you act and behave as a leader, together with your awareness styles of leadership and motivation.
You should be able to explain and demonstrate how you apply these in your professional practice.
At level 1, you need to be able to discuss what makes a good leader, in addition to the theoretical bases behind leadership and motivation. You should also be able to discuss effective organisational design and communication strategies, together with the conditions and climate you believe are necessary to create a high performing team.
At level 2, you need to be able to discuss examples relating to your leadership role at work. This could be how you have led a specific team, project or instruction and you should be able to discuss the theories you have applied, strategies you have employed for organisation design and communication and how you set about creating a high performing team.
Make sure you don't confuse leadership with management, as we will discuss in the next two Senior Professional competencies.
What is the Managing People competency?
The Managing People competency covers the principles and practice of managing people.
At level 1, this includes Human Resource management legislation and techniques, effective organisation design and communication strategies and the climate and culture needed to create a high performing team.
At level 2, you need to be able to discuss examples of how you have managed people in your professional practice.
This could include:
Applying Human Resource legislation or management techniques
Improving Human Resource performance
Employing the use of effective organisational design and communication strategies
Implementing the conditions and culture for efficient and effective team performance
You could discuss undertaking performance reviews, interviews, project team selection, dealing with issues or disputes and managing ongoing performance.
What is the Managing Resources competency?
Managing Resources relates to how you manage the effective use, allocation and costing of resources. You should not discuss human resources in this competency, as these should be dealt with in the Managing People competency.
At level 1, you should be able to discuss your knowledge and understanding of the resources you require in your role and how the cost of those resources relates to the efficacy of business operations.
You may wish to discuss:
Types of resource you require
How you manage financial resources
Accounting techniques
Budgeting
Forecasting
Procurement and acquisition of resources
Monitoring resource use
Personal resource management
Costing of resources
Relationship between the cost and value of resources
At level 2, examples of resource management should relate to how you ensure the most effective use, allocation and cost of resources.
These could include:
Setting financial objectives
Budget exercises
Monitoring and managing financial resources
Working with a finance department
Setting personal objectives
Preparing reports and recommendations relating to resource use and allocation
How can we help?
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Find out more about our bespoke AssocRICS and RICS APC training and support, before booking your free 15 minute consultation and signing up for your services online.
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Stay tuned for our next blog post to help build a better you
N.b. Nothing in this article constitutes legal or financial advice.