logo-newlogo-newlogo-newlogo-new
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Audit Trail Academy
  • Advisory Services
  • Books
✕
  • Home
  • Chambers on Internal Audit
  • Uncategorized
  • To Be “Agents of Change,” Internal Auditors Must Embrace Change

To Be “Agents of Change,” Internal Auditors Must Embrace Change

Five Powerful Statistics About Internal Audit From CBOK 2015
February 22, 2016
Too Many Boards Sit on Their Hands as CAEs Are Hired and Fired
March 7, 2016
February 29, 2016

One of my favorite quotes in motivating internal auditors of the urgency to change when warranted is drawn from the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who noted, “All change is preceded by crisis.” While I do not believe the profession faces a full-blown crisis in 2016, there are certainly imperatives to change as there always are for professions that are growing and evolving.

A great resource to gauge what those imperatives are is The IIA’s annual North American Pulse of Internal Auditfrom the Audit Executive Center, which has become an important tool for CAEs who have come to rely on its trending data.

Data in the recently released Pulse report reflects the continuing evolution in our profession – particularly the trend toward financial and compliance audits making up less of the audit plan (down 10 percent since 2012) and the steady growth in the percentage of CAEs reporting functionally to audit committees or boards (up 7 percent since 2013 to 83 percent).

These two trends reflect much bigger changes in the profession that manifest themselves in varied ways. As risk in the marketplace becomes more dynamic and complex, stakeholders are turning to internal audit to apply their deep knowledge of the organization to the emerging risks it faces. As pressures on boards and audit committee members grow, audit committee members recognize the direct reporting line helps them gain greater assurance and insight on the effectiveness of risk management and control within the enterprise.

We must acknowledge that the same factors driving those two trends create new demands on internal audit practitioners. The key message of this year’s Pulse, “Time to Move out of the Comfort Zone” addresses four areas where those new demands are peaking — cybersecurity, data analytics, auditing culture, and developing interpersonal skills. While the title of the 2016 Pulse might seem a bit provocative, even ominous, I see this as an opportunity to clearly define where the profession must go to grow and succeed — and avoid the “real crisis” that Kierkegaard spoke of.

As stakeholders call on internal audit to do more, the profession must be prepared to invest in the talent, training, and tools necessary to meet those demands. The report’s conclusion includes this prescient observation, “It is time for internal audit to move beyond being capable of handling old risks and align with the strategic objectives of the organization, stepping into the role of trusted adviser.”

I have written that the history of our proud profession reflects that we do not shrink from new challenges. Indeed, we thrive on them. I encourage readers of the Pulse to take its message to heart and develop a step-by-step plan to move out of your comfort zones. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Carefully examine the data from each of the four focus areas covered in the Pulse report. In addition to providing valuable data gleaned from a survey of 486 CAEs, directors, and senior managers, the Pulse lays out clearly the challenges practitioners face in the four focus areas and arms you with data to help understand and address them.

For example, in the area of auditing culture, the survey finds that a significant minority of respondents, 35 percent, do not feel internal audit has the full support of executive management to assess all levels of the organization. Viewed another way, 65 percent feel they do have management support to fully assess culture. No matter which group you fall into, the data is valuable to demonstrate to management how the organization compares to others with regard to auditing culture.

Share the findings and your observations with management and the audit committee. As we execute increasingly complex and shifting audit plans, it is easy to overlook that management, boards, and audit committees rely on us to provide perspective on the wide array of risks they must oversee. It is important for us to connect the dots for them, and sharing key trends in the profession with management and the board provides benchmarks for them and adds to your credibility.

Identify how these findings relate to your organization. Every internal audit function is different, with resources, maturity level, staff experience, and relations with management and audit committees all contributing to make them unique. Identify how your audit function can best accomplish moving out of its comfort zone by including management, the audit committee, and/or the board in these discussions and gaining their participation and support.

Apply the same analysis to your individual skill ​sets. Just as the data provides an opportunity to assess how internal audit functions rate, it also should provide insights into how well individual practitioners are prepared to meet new demands. Here I must turn to the simple, yet powerful, theme of current IIA Global Chairman, Larry Harrington — “Invest in yourself.”

Larry has shared this message in his travels around the globe during the first six months of his tenure as chairman and eloquently encouraged practitioners to become “agents of change.” In many ways that message is the same one offered by this year’s Pulse. After all, agents of change must be willing to move out of their comfort zones and change themselves. To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, progress is impossible without change, and internal auditors who cannot change themselves cannot change anything.

As always, I welcome your comments and observations.  

Share

Related posts

March 13, 2023

New IIA Report Is a Timely Benchmarking Resource for Internal Auditors


Read more
May 16, 2022

THE STAGGERING TOLL OF COVID RELIEF FRAUD: WHERE WERE THE THREE LINES?


Read more
February 3, 2022

To Live a Life in Color, You May Have to Change Channels


Read more

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What’s Trending

03-20-23

New Report Reveals Surprising Insights from Internal Audit Executives


03-13-23

New IIA Report Is a Timely Benchmarking Resource for Internal Auditors


03-02-23

6 Things Audit Committee Members Often Won’t Say to Internal Audit


Read More

Archive

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009

Contact Us

PO Box 1441
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32170

+1-407-463-9389
rchambers@richardchambers.com

About AuditBeacon.com

AuditBeacon.com is a resource center for internal auditors and risk professionals from around the world. In addition to more than 500 blogs authored by Richard Chambers, the site includes links to news and insights on internal audit and other information that illuminates the value of this important profession. AuditBeacon.com is provided as a service by Richard F. Chambers and Associates, LLC.

Copyright © 2023 Richard F. Chambers & Associates. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Audit Trail Academy
  • Advisory Services
  • Books