Last week, we posed a simple yet important question to our LinkedIn community: “Do you think current auditor training programs are sufficient to provide value during audits?”
While nearly three-quarters of respondents acknowledged that current training programs provide some value, only a very small minority expressed full confidence in them. At the same time, one in four respondents felt that current auditor training programs are completely insufficient. The message seems clear: training is working to some extent, but it does not fully meet industry expectations.
These results closely mirror the findings from our Global Research on the Value of Food Safety Audits, which gathered inputs from 162 food safety auditors and Quality & Food Safety (QFS) leaders worldwide.
The research found that only 32.7% of respondents agreed that current auditor training programs are sufficient to deliver value during audits, while 38.9% disagreed and 28.4% remained neutral. In other words, confidence in current training programs is limited, and there is a widespread perception that improvement is needed.
We have observed that the bigger concern emerged around the skills that are often harder to measure and teach. A striking 77.8% of respondents agreed that soft skills are undervalued in current auditor training programs.
The qualitative interviews reinforced this finding. Auditors and QFS leaders repeatedly highlighted the importance of communication, empathy, active listening, critical thinking, diplomacy, conflict management, and trust-building. Participants emphasized that auditors who can create dialogue, ask meaningful questions, and engage people constructively are more likely to uncover risks, promote transparency, and generate genuine improvement.
This finding becomes even more important when viewed alongside other research results. More than 62% of respondents believed organizations are reluctant to disclose food safety issues during audits, suggesting that trust and psychological safety remain significant challenges. An auditor may possess exceptional technical expertise, but if people are unwilling to speak openly, critical information may never surface.
Similarly, 71% of respondents stated that auditors create greater value when they provide consultative advice, while many interviewees emphasized that audits become more impactful when auditors facilitate reflection and learning rather than simply checking compliance.
Delivering value requires far more than technical knowledge. It takes strong interpersonal skills: emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and the ability to communicate risk effectively.
Perhaps this is where the industry has an opportunity to rethink auditor development.
For many years, auditor training has understandably focused on standards interpretation, HACCP principles, and auditing techniques – to an extent. These competencies remain essential and will always be the foundation of the profession. However, if organizations want audits to become more value-adding, training programs may need to place equal emphasis on the human side of auditing.
Technical knowledge helps auditors identify issues. Soft skills help auditors uncover them.
Our LinkedIn poll and global research point toward the same conclusion: auditor training is not failing, but it is no longer enough to focus primarily on technical competence. The future auditor will need to be not only a subject-matter expert but also an effective communicator, a critical thinker, a trusted partner, and a facilitator of learning.
In an industry increasingly seeking value beyond compliance, soft skills may no longer be a “nice to have.” They surely become one of the most important competencies an auditor can possess.
