Change management: How one audit team ensures consistent onboarding

Audit leaders face many challenges. Training and onboarding their teams on new software is just one of them. This case study describes how one multi-national organization overcame that challenge by using TeamMate+. Our client wishes to remain anonymous to comply with their organizational requirements but for context: they are a multi-national organization with divisions in science/technology and consumer goods. Brand trust and reputation are a critical component of their organizational DNA. The audit team is several hundred auditors large and spread across many office locations around the world.

Their audit team consists of experienced professionals from various technical backgrounds and geographic regions and a healthy mix of new hires – new to the organization or internal audit. One of the reasons the organization chose TeamMate+ was its ingrained and intuitive audit workflow support from risk assessments to audit reporting. However, it’s not just about using the tool; it’s about using it in a way that aligns with organizational standards and practices. That’s not to say that everything is prescriptive. There is plenty of room for professional judgment and tasks and procedures the organization has established as best practices they want all team members to follow.

First, they needed an audit management system that would support the needs of the business (large and diverse audit universe, cloud-based for remote access, fully configurable to align with their audit taxonomy and procedures). TeamMate+ provides the tools, workflow, and visibility to support the front-line auditors, auditees, and audit managers to ensure all work is accounted for and documented.

Next, these questions:

• How can we manage consistency?
• How can we help the learning process in real-time?
• How can we ensure new staff gets the support and information they need?

A small team tasked with the rollout of TeamMate+ decided that TeamGuide Pro would provide a useful tool to augment staff training. TeamGuide Pro provides tool tips (defined by the client organization) anywhere in the application. This can be for common activities, such as documenting evidence to feature-level tools like Perspectives and Dimensions. The created “guides” appear throughout the application and give guidance to the team on what the feature is and how to use it, aligned with organizational practices.

For onboarding, “TeamMate+ has added value and is easy to maintain and update,” says our contact, a TeamMate+ champion. The team is expected to use their professional judgment but operate within the organization’s established framework. TeamGuide Pro is a valuable addition to the training provided by the champions and training team. It provides real-time tips when an auditor needs them rather than looking through training materials or watching recorded sessions.

Additionally, reporting shows which guides are/are not being viewed. This information is quite helpful to see if certain features or practices are consistently adopted. The training team can use the feedback to adjust points of emphasis going forward.

In short, TeamMate+ provides the capabilities the team needs across the audit workflow (from planning to fieldwork/audit execution to documenting the audit trail to audit reporting). It enables them to build in support for the team’s needs, communicate consistent guidance in real-time as auditors work, and create a way to measure success to inform future training.