In the first two parts of this article series on changing the internal audit function we presented a framework for effective internal audit people management, comprised of four aspects of the employee lifecycle. This framework covers all the important touch points with your colleagues to make the employee experience as effective as possible and help to ensure that you can get the best out of all your people.
- Attract is all about taking a long-term view of your resourcing needs and having the means to effectively attract and select people with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes you need.
- Reward, at its simplest, is about attracting, retaining, and motivating audit staff who use their skills and knowledge to deliver your objectives. Ensuring that the reward system you have in place promotes the behaviors you have identified as being key to your success.
- Manage is about ensuring that your people are led and motivated. To do this effectively, your managers require the proper tools and skills. This will mean that people are fully empowered to make decisions at the right level and at the right time. It also includes holding people accountable for their actions, through regular and honest feedback on performance.
- Develop a focus on ensuring that you are successful in identifying and developing talent at all levels of your function, and that people are supported in the development of their capabilities, knowledge, and experience.
We also explored the first two characteristics of this framework – Attract and Reward. In this next article we examine the third aspect of our framework – effectively leading your people. To do this, management must have the proper tools and skillsets.
The three areas of focus in this article include the following:
