July 2022

July 25, 2022

Are Internal Auditors Influenced by ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​’Beauty Bias?’

Shortly after I became a chief audit executive, a member of my team identified a fraud in the organization. We all knew the suspect, and there was a lot of conversation in the office about what had been found. I remember someone saying, “I would have never suspected him! He doesn’t look like someone who would break the law.” That comment greatly annoyed me, and I called out the person, reminding them that we must be objective in our work. Appearance should never influence us.

I often wondered if judging the honesty of people based simply on appearance was a widespread problem in our profession.…

July 19, 2022

New AuditBoard Report Offers Rare Glimpse Into Internal Audit Mid-year Progress and Priorities

Regular readers of my blogs will know that I frequently share highlights from new research or thought leadership that sheds light on the trends and outlook for internal audit. Such reports from the ECIIA, Protiviti, IIA Global, and others tend to be published near the end of the year or early in the new year. They provide valuable insight into the results from the year that’s ending or the outlook for the year ahead.

Given the dynamic nature of risks and corresponding priorities that we are experiencing in the 2020s, I believe the profession needs more timely insights to enable benchmarking and course corrections throughout the year.
July 11, 2022

Internal Audit and the Endangered Art of Tact and Diplomacy​​

We are living in a world where frustration and confrontation borne out of resentment, mistrust and anger have become commonplace. It feels like the days are gone when people could agreeably disagree. I fear that civility is endangered behavior, and the art of tact and diplomacy is no longer valued when communicating. Things are not as bad in the workplace as they are in society in general, but some organizational cultures are beginning to emulate society. As internal auditors, we must remember that to influence positive change, we must bring constructive conversation to bear. We must never lose sight of the art of tact and diplomacy when communicating.…

July 5, 2022

Winning Over Skeptical Internal Audit Clients: 5 Strategies To Remember

In my recent blogs, I have been focusing on the basics of effective client service by internal auditors. I even wrote an article for AuditBoard on 6 ways internal auditors can apply client service concepts in executing their mission. As I have raised awareness on the topic of client service, I have received many inquiries seeking advice on how to deal with “challenging clients” and strained client relationships. Some have suggested that no matter how hard they try, they still face resentment and a genuine lack of cooperation when engaging those whose areas they are auditing. As I have said over the years, there is no magic formula for building and sustaining effective relationships.…