Glenn E. Sumners

Optimizing the Value of Performance Appraisals

A carefully designed and administered performance appraisal system, which stresses the coaching aspect of evaluations, will improve performance more rapidly and represents one of the keys to increase the audit staff′s productivity. Advocates the use of a two‐tiered, integrated system of ongoing job evaluations and annual goals (management by objectives – MBO), and the optimization of each system component. Entails training appraisers in dealing with emotional barriers to express criticism, and in avoiding psychometric errors. Feedback on job performance should be received on an ongoing and informal basis. MBO goals need to be jointly developed with the auditor. Job evaluations should include written comments which relate to job behaviour rather than personality traits. The annual appraisal should include a self‐appraisal and develop a plan to advance the auditor′s strengths and alleviate weaknesses. Addresses the legal requirements of appraisal systems.

A Corporate Code of Conduct: The Internal Auditor′s Role

An illustration is provided for all readers, students and practising professionals alike, of the dilemma faced by internal auditors as they try to perform a new service, namely, helping to operationalise a code of ethics (conduct) within their firms and at the same time remain true to the objective of their profession, to carry out “an independent appraisal function...as a service to the organisation”. The steps necessary to get a code of conduct operational are reviewed and the results are presented of a survey of a small number of firms in the utility industry which illustrates, among other things, the individual and/or groups responsible for making the code of conduct a viable document within their organisation.

Recruiting college students for entry‐level positions

Personnel inputs to the internal audit department are the primary determinants of the quality of its performance. Increasingly, organizations are recruiting entry-level auditors directly from university campuses. The characteristics of the university market indicate that a structured interviewing approach will be more cost-efficient and effective in attracting the best students to the profession and more specifically to individual organizations. Accordingly, covers the entire spectrum of the recruiting process including; planning, prescreening, selection of schools, selection of recruiting personnel, interviewing, evaluation, post-campus activities, office visits and follow-up.

Operational Auditing Deserves a Prominent Place in the Auditing Curriculum

A rationale for including operational auditing as a major component in the primary auditing course, as well as in subsequent courses, in the auditing curriculum is developed. Reports and statements from professional groups and commissions, together with accounting education literature, provide a primary resource. Problems in the auditing curriculum are identified, learning style theory and the education of accountants is explored and the objectives to provide support to achieve the educational goals identified by the various constituencies are presented.

CIA Exam Strategy: Planning, Preparation and Test‐taking Techniques

The CIA designation continues to gain acceptance within the internal auditing profession. One of the goals of the IIA is to globalize the certification. Many view exam preparation as excellent foundation training. The designation is more often seen as a job requirement or a promotion requirement. Assists candidates in developing a comprehensive, efficient, effective exam strategy. The exam guidelines set forth include: status evaluation, planning, preparation and test‐taking. Proposes that this approach should minimize preparation time and maximize success.

Orientation: A Strategic Opportunity for the Audit Department

Explains the difference between orientation and training. Advances a top‐down approach for assembling an orientation programme, offering flexibility and allowing the new auditor to build a framework of understanding about his/her work. There are four modules: Industry; Company; Internal Auditing; and Audit Assignments. The need for customized orientations arises. Building a successful programme entails selecting the right timeframe and reviewing and optimizing the existing programme; customized orientations may be needed. Orientation forms part of the socialization process which deals with the transition to a new job environment, and is a strategic opportunity to enhance employee commitment and performance.

Developing a Training Programme

A methodology for developing a training programme responsive to the expanding scope of internal audit functions is presented. A training development cycle, of which an individual career record is an integral point, is described, to enable the internal audit function to adapt to the constant state of change which will become the norm in the 1990s.