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 first part of the interview focuses on his expertise while trying to capture the traits of a good auditor.
World of Auditing
Thanks, Marc, for being with us for the interview.
Marc Cwikowski
It’s my pleasure to be with you today.
World of Auditing
We wanted to schedule this interview to get insights from your career, focusing on auditing. Could you tell us a bit about your career?
Marc Cwikowski
I studied food technology in Belgium 30-plus years ago. My first job was with a global food and beverage company as an R&D Manager, and I was hired to set up innovation processes in a factory producing meat-based products. I soon took over quality assurance, which allowed me to be in contact with auditors from retailers coming into our plant to see whether they would be OK to buy from us. After a few years, I became production manager in that factory, and in 1996 the company sold the activities they were having in the meat and ready meals business to a prominent local company. I joined that company as plant manager in a factory producing chilled meals. After three years, we were hit by the dioxin issue like many others, a big crisis in Belgium in 1999. I lost my job and dreamed of starting my own business, but I felt not ready yet.
I joined a certification body company as an auditor. I soon became operations manager, and then I oversaw sales & marketing. After that, I started doing 2nd party auditing for a global company. The latter soon asked me to join them, which I did. My first role was taking a quality assurance management role. Two years after, I started working for the global audit organization as an audit process manager. Some years later, I joined the policy and standards department to set the same company’s quality and food safety standards.
I moved to China for a year and a half, where I was on a project to evaluate the food safety-related risk in the supply chain. I took the global food safety director role for a few years when I came back. Later, I joined the operations department, responsible for leaders and managers’ worldwide learning and development programs. In 2015, I was recruited by another global company to lead their Food Safety Center. I became later the VP of Quality and Food Safety for one of their divisions.
At the end of 2018, I decided to leave and start my own consulting business focusing on quality and food safety and, more specifically, on auditing. And this is where we are today. After three years of great stories and founding “World of Auditing” in partnership with Tulay Kahraman, this is who I am in my career until now.
World of Auditing
Your first interaction with the audit profession was when you oversaw quality assurance the first time. Can you elaborate on that one, please?
Marc Cwikowski
Yes, indeed, I discovered auditing through being audited myself by auditors from the retail sector. The big retailers sent auditors on-site to evaluate our performance to see whether they would be OK to source from our factory. I also discovered audits through the lens of regulatory bodies coming into the factory to see whether we were complying with the regulations in force, whether they were coming from Belgium, Europe or the USA. That is how I met the world of auditing for the first time.
Afterwards, I became a member of the team of global cross-border auditors in the mother company. I was trained on auditing strategies, protocols, and programs, and I enjoyed auditing myself.
World of Auditing
What difficulties did you face at the beginning and later in your journey as an auditor?
Marc Cwikowski
As an auditor, I think one main difficulty resides in understanding the processes in place. Having the right level of technical knowledge is vital.
World of Auditing
Which domains have you been auditing?
Marc Cwikowski
Because I started in the meat and ready meals business, I began to audit these particular fields. I had then the opportunity to audit beyond meat, ice cream, mustard, and olive oil, to name a few. After joining the certification body, I enjoyed auditing different businesses and industries. Later on, when I joined the global beverage company, I focused on auditing the soft drink business. When I went to China, I had the opportunity to audit suppliers, including farmers, so it was a broad spectrum range. Auditing over there came with a rich learning experience.
World of Auditing
What were the best and worst experiences you had as an auditor?
Marc Cwikowski
My best experience was the day I left the certification body. Not because I left it, but when I went, I got a lovely present from auditees to recognize what they learned through the auditing process and the years we spent together in different audits. Hence, recognizing the value provided through audit was one of my best moments.
A second one would be the experience I acquired in China, going from suppliers to suppliers and sharing the knowledge within the supply chain through audits. Transferring knowledge through auditing is one of my best experiences. Not only uncovering issues but also sharing knowledge is on the positive side. The less good experiences come from situations that were not always easy. Because it was far and tiring, reporting all night in preparation for the meeting the following day was always a challenge. These situations were sometimes tense and challenging to manage, but I learned how to report and present my findings better. I also learned to support my conclusions through objective evidence and better manage conflicting situations.
World of Auditing
What do you think are the traits the characteristics of a good auditor?
Marc Cwikowski
Well, the first one coming to my mind is listening. Listening is an essential skill that an auditor should have. The second one would be not to jump too fast to conclusions, but instead, build the case, understand what’s going on, and listen to get objective evidence, through records, through the things you see, and the things you smell, well before judging. I had situations where I thought the plant would never pass the audit the first day, but then day after day, I realized that they didn’t express themselves well. They didn’t show the good things they were doing. So, wait before concluding. Also, being open to learning new things is essential; being open to learning from the interactions you have with the auditee and doing your homework. Try to understand the processes, understand the company you are auditing, and understand the challenges and the opportunities. Review the documentation that they provided to you before the audit. I believe another critical trait is to go after things that matter, the vital elements of any management system. Do not put your focus and all efforts on the minor topics.
World of Auditing
And how can an auditor best prepare for an audit?
Marc Cwikowski
The first thing to do is to understand the organization. It comes back to learning. Do your homework and go to the literature. Analyze scientific documents to increase your knowledge before you even enter the plant. Prepare a good review of the documentation. If the documentation is not complete enough, then ask for more information before the audit so that when you are on-site, you already have an excellent idea of what you want to see, where you want to go, and to whom you want to talk. Preparation is essential.
World of Auditing
What similarities do you see between auditing in various sectors, particularly when you look at it from the auditor skills point of view?
Marc Cwikowski
Interestingly, our experience within and with organizations outside the food business is that challenges and opportunities are very similar. Technical knowledge is critical. The technical expertise you need to acquire in the food industry is different from the one you need to develop in the automotive or aviation industry. You must have the right technical skills and then come the human skills. Human skills are not specific to a particular sector. We understand from our business interactions that similar challenges are there. How to report, manage a conflicting situation, and prepare your point of view. All these things matter beyond technical skills. Then the third layer would be strategic thinking. As an auditor, how can I put everything into perspective? Understand what matters for the organization? How can I position my finding so that the company’s CEO, who would participate in the closing meeting, would understand that it matters? These skills are also necessary for auditors who want to become leaders in audit organizations. Auditors need some specific skills that I would position into the strategic thinking set of skills. So, the three primary skills are technical, human, and strategic.
