This article is based on an interview performed with Marc Cwikowski, the co-founder of World of Auditing, which will be delivered in three parts.
This second part of the interview focuses on his expertise while elaborating on challenges and opportunities through the auditor life cycle and management of audit teams.
World of Auditing
Fascinating insight. What are the main challenges and opportunities in managing a team of auditors?
Marc Cwikowski
I would say understanding the level of knowledge of these auditors is the first thing to do. Understanding the level of knowledge and skills would start at the selection process, so I believe that’s the first challenge. Onboarding an auditor is the next challenge and opportunity. After having onboarded them, further develop them, qualify them, make sure that they are ready to go, and start auditing independently. Auditing is not easy. I think that is not something you can do forever. As a manager of an audit team, you need to manage the expectations and think about the next step for that auditor. What would be the next step in their career? Would it be becoming a leader in the audit organization? Or perhaps it would be using the knowledge acquired to become a quality assurance manager in a plant or a quality director in a particular business unit. Auditing allows individuals to develop some skills, such as being very good at thinking strategically and critically. These are skills that auditors are developing during their career and can use for their next professional step.
World of Auditing
What are the career opportunities for audit managers?
Marc Cwikowski
For both auditors and audit managers, they are multiple but depend on what the person wants. I have seen auditors who are willing to stay auditors all their career, which is OK. I have also seen auditors developing into managerial roles in audit organizations and outside the audit organization. I have seen auditors becoming audit managers and VP quality and food safety. Everything is possible. People often do not realize that being an auditor equips them with many skills to leverage later in their careers. I think this is maybe also because nobody told them. If I look at myself, nobody told me when I was a student about the auditor profession. I didn’t even know it existed. As I mentioned earlier, I discovered this during the early years of my career. There is probably a lack of sharing about these possibilities and the beauty of the audit profession.
World of Auditing
Fair comments about the lack of awareness of the audit profession. Could you explain a bit more about the typical life cycle of an auditor?
Marc Cwikowski
Well, I think we mentioned some steps already. First, as an auditor, you need to demonstrate that the organization is right to recruit you. Then comes the onboarding phase. Understanding the business, understanding the processes, and leveraging these human skills that we discussed before. It takes time and effort. And this is part of the continuous development of an auditor. It is a constant process of learning and development that needs to be in place, which is the third step. Then there is the phase of further growth in your career. We mentioned staying as an auditor, becoming an audit manager, or going somewhere else, where somewhere else could also be another company. I have seen examples where people developed and became freelancers, also a career option.
World of Auditing
And how do you ensure your auditors understand the business they are auditing and the associated risks?
Marc Cwikowski
The best auditors I’ve seen started their career in the field first, working in a production environment and designing and implementing systems. The qualification process includes experience on the shop floor. I don’t think you can start as an auditor from day one, straight from school. You need that field experience, which in my case, was highly beneficial. I don’t think I would have audited the same way if I hadn’t had that experience as a quality assurance manager, production manager, and plant manager. These experiences that I had before helped me understand the business. Then I was able to provide more value. Not understanding the company and not understanding the processes are obstacles for someone to provide value as an auditor.
World of Auditing
What measures should be put in place to keep the auditors engaged and maximize job retention?
Marc Cwikowski
When I was an audit manager, I had the privilege of recruiting auditors and training them. Typically, an auditor is someone eager to learn. I think providing continuous learning and development opportunities for auditors is critical. Then the second thing is that people spent a lot of time preparing the audit, including travelling, etc. They report late at night, sometimes facing challenging situations in conducting meetings with the auditees. I think it’s the responsibility of an audit organization to make sure that everything runs smoothly. It is vital to install checkpoints and calibration processes so that findings and ratings of results are not disputable. All these things are essential for a manager to put in place to ease the auditor’s job and ensure success.
World of Auditing
And why is calibration amongst auditors so important?
Marc Cwikowski
Calibration is essential. If you have a team of 20 or so non calibrated auditors, one auditor is rating a finding as minor while the other is rating the same type of finding as major. You need to understand that audited organizations share experiences and reports. I think calibration goes well with credibility and trust. If auditors are not calibrated, you will face situations where you lose trust and credibility from the auditee, which could be a nightmare and counterproductive.
World of Auditing
How do you think this calibration can be enhanced?
Marc Cwikowski
I think calibration starts with the knowledge we talked about; you cannot identify the risk if you don’t know. We see many companies organizing calibration exercises. You share a case study with your auditors, and you ask them to rate a specific finding. Then you will see that some ratings are very high, some are low, and then you engage your auditors in calibration discussions. Why do I rate it as a major? Why do I rate it as a minor? You can expect to align your auditors on the right and acceptable rating. Another approach that companies often use is having reports reviewed by peers to ensure ratings of findings are equivalent across the organization. Peer review is widespread and very beneficial. Most organizations I worked with have calibration processes in place, and they are right.
World of Auditing
And how do you support your team of auditors related to competency?
Marc Cwikowski
Training, training, and training. I would say it’s the key, but training doesn’t mean necessarily going into a classroom training. Auditing with a more experienced auditor, going outside your area of expertise, learning from others, participating in benchmarking exercises, and learning how other organizations run their businesses. It’s a never-ending story. An auditor who doesn’t learn will stop being efficient, and I think it’s a duty for the audit manager or the head of the audit organization to provide these opportunities for auditors to learn and develop continuously.
World of Auditing
One of the aspects of continuous improvement is having a comprehensive corrective and preventive action plan. Do you think auditors should be involved in developing a corrective action plan and follow-up?
Marc Cwikowski
Well, I’ve seen different types of models. I’ve seen organizations that issue a report. But the management of the corrective action and follow-up is the duty of another part of our organization. This works well for some organizations. They have the auditors focusing on auditing and reporting, and they move on and go to another audit. That’s one model. Also, I’ve seen other organizations engaging their auditors in the follow-up of the corrective action program with lots of benefits. They would review the objective evidence provided by the organization after an audit, and sometimes they would consult with internal experts. They would say, “OK, I got enough objective evidence, and we can close the corrective action .” And by the way, when I come back, I will also check on site whether the objective evidence you provided is still there and everything was correctly closed. That’s another model. Typically, these last organizations believe that auditors can provide value beyond the audit through their expertise, and it works for them: different models, different companies, and different types of cultures.
Have you not read the first part yet? Here is the link.
