Internal auditors are nitpickers and fault-finders
In his blog, IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers shares his personal reflections and insights on the internal audit profession.
Why Do They Think Internal Auditors Are Looking for Problems?
Last week, the globally popular business comic strip "Dilbert" took on management's perception of/reaction to internal auditors. Like all Dilbert strips, there is enough truth in the punchline to grab our attention and be provocative. I must admit that I smiled. I certainly encountered management officials who didn't want me, or my internal audit team, poking around in their departments. But we always reached some agreement.
After my initial amusement at the comic strip, I asked myself: Why does management so frequently assume that we are just there to "find problems?" I even had managers look me in the eye and say, "I know you have to find something wrong to justify the audit." I sometimes felt that they looked at us like we do a traffic police officer. We often wonder if they have a quota on the number of traffic citations they have to deliver. It is my fervent hope that the day will come when we are universally appreciated for helping to "prevent" problems rather than "finding" them.
Our profession has made a lot of progress in overcoming perceptions like the one portrayed in Dilbert. But the stereotype persists. As I explored in a recent blog, we have work to do in helping people understand what we do, and how we do it. A few years ago, I authored a blog post titled "Five Classic Myths About Internal Auditing." As I considered the message Dilbert conveyed about internal audit, I was reminded of those five myths — especially Myth 2: "Internal auditors are nitpickers and fault-finders," and Myth 5: "Internal audit is the corporate police function."
Myths can tell us a lot about ourselves — or, at the least, about how others see the world. But it seems that the most inaccurate myths are the ones most difficult to dispel, particularly if there is a grain of truth buried in them.
The modern internal audit profession has been around for only about 100 years. Yet, it is amazing how many myths and misperceptions have evolved about the profession in such a relatively short period of time. And while each of the "five myths" is generally untrue, that they are so enduring tells us that we still need to take stock of how we are perceived in our own organizations and by the stakeholders we serve. Do we do things to reinforce these myths? Or do we need to do a better job creating awareness of how the profession has changed? You be the judge.
Read the whole blog Why Do They Think Internal Auditors Are Looking for Problems?
