An efficient internal audit program is a crucial component of a successful management system since it assesses organizational policies, practices, and activities to ensure their proper execution and maintenance. An internal audit program’s planning is influenced by the significance of operations, organizational changes, and the findings of prior audits. The use of qualified auditors is crucial for effective internal audit programs.
What Are the Skills of a Competent Auditor?
Did you know exactly what qualities or skills should be assessed during training to determine whether a candidate is qualified to be an auditor? Auditors should, at the least, have the auditing knowledge and expertise necessary to gather, confirm, and record enough factual data to back up the audit conclusions. Both hard and soft abilities are part of these competencies. Hard skills, also known as technical skills, are normally developed and acquired through education and training. The majority of the time, auditors are better at developing and managing these kinds of skills. However, interpersonal skills, sometimes known as soft skills, are more challenging to learn through education or other training. Soft skills are acquired through experience and largely depend on the internal auditor’s personality. When developing, establishing, executing, and maintaining an internal audit system, both hard and soft skills should be taken into account as they are both necessary for a successful and credible audit.
What Are Hard Skills?
The technical knowledge related to the ISO standard, as well as the skills and abilities that people acquire through education, internal auditor training, and experiences, are referred to as “hard skills.” These kinds of skills can be measured and quantified, and they can be shown through a degree, certificate, or even actual employment. Examples of internal auditing-related hard skills include, but are not limited to:
- Writing and effective notetaking
- Computer skills
- Product and process knowledge
- Technical skills
- Critical thinking
- Analytical reasoning
- Problem-solving
- Reading and understanding objective evidence
What Are Soft Skills?
Soft skills are people and/or interpersonal abilities. These qualities are extremely subjective and challenging to quantify. They may be seen as innate characteristics that have grown over time. Soft skills are personal qualities, characteristics, actions, and attitudes that help a person relate to and interact with others. Soft skills make auditees more comfortable during internal audits and improve the ability to “get the job done,” as it were. The following are only a few examples of soft skills relevant to internal auditing:
- Empathy
- Effective communication
- Active listening
- Resilience
- Honesty and integrity
- Adaptability and flexibility
- Attention to detail
- Common sense
- Situational awareness
- Social-emotional intelligence
Why Develop Auditing Skills?
Auditing skills are essential for gathering, verifying, and recording objective evidence using audit methodologies. Internal auditors’ hard and soft skills can be developed and improved to enable good communication and collaboration during internal audits, which enhances confidence that internal audits will be effective in reaching stated audit objectives.
Punyam Academy is a well-known training provider that provides a variety of ISO standard training courses, such as auditor training, lead auditor training, awareness training courses, lead implementer training, etc. An excellent way to improve auditing abilities is through training for auditors. For instance, ISO 19011 internal auditor training is beneficial for auditors who wish to learn how to conduct internal audits for any management system. The right training can assist in understanding the documentation, the list of procedures, and the records that must be kept to conduct an audit. learn how to use an audit checklist and conduct internal audits, Recognise the auditing procedures that are used, understand the various evaluations and questioning strategies Learn how to create and manage internal audit records, understand the ISO standard’s resource and process requirements, and more.
Source: https://punyamacademy.wordpress.com/2023/07/04/enhancing-your-internal-auditing-skills-with-proper-internal-auditor-training/
