Every profession has its ups and downs, and internal audit is certainly no exception. In fact, some of the most awkward and, yes, even painful moments can occur when we need to deliver bad news to good people. And, if these moments are difficult for internal auditors, rest assured they are even more distressing for our clients.
Like it or not, there are times when, based on our audit results, we have to tell clients things they don’t want to hear. It’s never easy, for example, to tell someone that the audit results were “unsatisfactory.” It’s even harder to tell a colleague that you found a major fraud in their division, especially one that involved once-trusted employees or that had devastating financial consequences.…