Beyond Audit

CHAPTER 13Focused on Learning

THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT of every internal audit department is going to be the continuing education, developing, and learning of the team members both from an audit perspective – more specifically, how their audit methodology is executed – and from a business knowledge perspective. And while both of these topics have been highlighted throughout this book, this chapter provides a deeper dive into the learning responsibilities of an internal auditor. As with any attempt to learn something new, improve on an existing skill, or try to master a technique, there must be a desire from the auditor to want to accomplish the objective. This type of learning is different than the continuing education that an auditor participates in when it comes to earning continuing professional education (CPE) or attending a conference. As all auditors are aware, you can attend and participate in these different learning opportunities, but they are not the same as having the desire and drive to build on a personal skillset and achieve a specific objective. And when you consider how challenging the audit environment has become, especially with the remote audit requirements, focusing on developing techniques and skillsets to assist in the facilitation of these audit engagements becomes an asset to any audit organization. There has been a significant increase in the demand for communication and relationship development skills since they are seen as the primary skills which ...