Professional Skills

1 Introduction

From September 2022, the APM exam will include 20 Professional Skills marks: 10 in the case study Q1 in Section A and 5 in each of the 25-mark questions in Section B. The four professional skills relevant to AFM are: Communication; Analysis and Evaluation; Scepticism; Commercial Acumen.

• All four skills will be examined in Section A

• Each question in Section B will examine a minimum of two professional skills but not communication.

2 Communication

Q1 will always ask for a report requested by an organisation’s senior management to address key financial management matters facing the organisation.

Professional marks will be available for:

• Report format and structure – use of headings/sub-headings and an introduction

• Style, language and clarity – includes:

  • appropriate tone of report response

  • presentation of calculations

  • appropriate use of the CBE tools

  • easy to follow and understand

Professional marks may also be available for:

• Effectiveness of communication – content of the report is relevant and tailored to the question scenario.

• Adherence to the specific requests made by the requested of the report (e.g. the chief executive).

3 Analysis and Evaluation

All questions will include this professional skill. It is common for APM questions to focus on the evaluation of a report, method, model, system, or technique, of which part may be the analysis of some data or information.

Remember: Any analysis or evaluation must be in context of the situation in which the organisation operates.

• Analysis can be demonstrated by:

• Appropriate use of the data/information:

  • to determine suitable calculations and/or

  • to support discussion and draw appropriate conclusion

• Appraisal of information objectively with a view to balancing costs/risks/benefits/opportunities, before advising on or recommending solutions or decision.

• Identifying where data appears to be omitted or where further analysis is needed to make a recommendation (e.g. decision-makers need to be aware if a full evaluation cannot be performed due to lack of data).

An evaluation is a balanced appraisal to determine the impact of a course of action (e.g. changing an organisation’s reward system).  Part of that is to demonstrate reasoned judgement to consider relevant factors, decide what to prioritise and then come to a suitable and justified conclusion.

4 Scepticism

Having a questioning approach is key for this skill: it leads to effective challenges of information, evidence provided and assumptions stated. This includes the ability to identify contradictory evidence and remaining sceptical about information that has been provided in the scenario.

APM often bases questions on theoretical performance management models, which include assumptions and therefore may not perfectly fit an organisation’s situation – you need to be able to raise such issues.

APM often has stakeholders in question scenarios making statements about their beliefs and perceptions of a matter and you can be required to challenge those statements. These challenges, however, cannot simply be in the abstract. Reasons for issues and problems are needed before challenges can be upheld and deemed appropriate.

All of this means that you need to apply professional judgement to draw conclusions and make properly informed decisions which are appropriate to the business.

5 Commercial Acumen

All questions are set in commercially realistic scenarios; these can range from private to public sector organisations and also to not-for-profit organisations and regulated industries. Whatever the context, you need to understand what will and will not work; any advice or recommendations have to be practical and plausible in the given situation.

To demonstrate this skill you must use examples from the scenario information and/or other practical commercial considerations to illustrate the points being made.

Organisations do not operate in a vacuum so you need to be able to recognise external constraints and opportunities where relevant and also consider the validity/reasonableness of any assumption that the organisation may be working under, given the external environment. Awareness of internal constraints within an organisation should also be accounted for.

6 Resources

In the Practice Platform you will find:

APM Specimen from September 2022 onwards

APM Practice Exam 1 from September 2022 onwards

APM Practice Exam 2 from September 2022 onwards