Richard Chambers, President and CEO of the global Institute of Internal Auditors, is a friend whose leadership at the IIA and of internal audit practices I value and respect.
Recently, he wrote a blog, One Mistake Internal Audit Cannot Afford to Make in 2020.
Please read it and then consider an alternative view.
If we are focused on communicating what we consider to be our value, are we not boasting?
Do you respect people or organizations that boast about their value?
I 150% agree with Richard that internal audit should “obsess about the value we deliver”.
I also agree that there are “countless internal audit departments that were simply ‘checking the box’ in executing their mission”. If they are checking the box and not focused on delivering what they are capable of, they are not going to be valued by the board and executive management of the organization. They will be a target for downsizing, or at least unable to get the funding they need even in good times, because leaders don’t see the business benefit.
But what is that value? How should it be identified and valued?
The value of internal audit can only be measured through the eyes of our customers!
The value of anything is only what the customers would willingly pay for it, because of the benefit it provides.
Richard gets this right when…
