CBOK Report: The Top 7 Skills CAEs Want
Building the Right Mix of Talent for Your Organization
The evolution of the internal audit profession toward a more value-added risk assurance function continues to move forward. While technical skills are needed for day-to-day work, analytical/critical thinking and communication are personal skills that continue to be at the top of any chief audit executive’s (CAE’s) wish list.
Practitioners with these skills have a higher probability of overcoming any technical deficiencies and stepping up to meet stakeholders’ value-added expectations. To find practitioners with these skills, CAEs need to have a deliberate talent management plan. They should prioritize identifying those candidates with key personal skills through behavioral assessments, looking at diverse academic backgrounds.
When it is not feasible to hire staff for particular skills or needs, they can consider using resources in other areas of the organization (co-sourcing) or obtaining support from outside the organization (outsourcing).
Finally, CAEs should establish development programs that further improve on personal skills while augmenting industry-specific knowledge and other technical skills.
This report supports its conclusions with results from the CBOK 2015 Global Practitioner Survey, the largest ongoing study of internal auditors in the world.