Wanting to Train our Internal Auditors Ourselves

Has anyone used a training package from sites on the net for an in-house training program?

We typically hire companies to come in and train, costing $1000's, with mixed results. I recently found a website that offers what seems to be a complete internal auditor training program. I do not know if I can post addresses so suffice to say it's one that comes up at the beginning of a google search. The presentation looks to cover everything including quizzes and tests, but I do not know if the level of training in core tools is sufficient and I'm not sure how much more I would have to cover to meet the requirement.. I know that our external services just briefly cover core tools and that has always seemed to satisfy 3rd party auditors..

I would recommend that you be very cautious about conducting your internal auditor training yourselves. Be sure to do thorough research on your customer specific requirements. Some customers require that the person who is conducting the training meet certain competency requirements and in some cases those requirements are very stringent. Ford and GM requirements come to mind, although Ford has relaxed their requirements somewhat in the past few years.

Part of effective training is an experienced, engaging instructor. Yes, the materials are a key component, but that's approximately 1/3rd of the actual training experience. I'd suggest that, unless you have someone who has experience of auditing, the situations encountered etc, plus can deliver an entertaining experience.

If I may suggest that, instead of DYI, with a chance of no improvement to your past results, you maybe look again at a provider and ask, this time, if they will coach your auditors to actually do an audit, rather than deliver just a class room experience. Anyone who is any good should have offered that in the first place!

jimmymustang06 said:

Has anyone used a training package from sites on the net for an in-house training program?

We typically hire companies to come in and train, costing $1000's, with mixed results. I recently found a website that offers what seems to be a complete internal auditor training program. I do not know if I can post addresses so suffice to say it's one that comes up at the beginning of a google search. The presentation looks to cover everything including quizzes and tests, but I do not know if the level of training in core tools is sufficient and I'm not sure how much more I would have to cover to meet the requirement.. I know that our external services just briefly cover core tools and that has always seemed to satisfy 3rd party auditors..

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jimmy,

The instructor(s) has to be competent to teach and coach. The internal auditors have to be competent to plan, conduct and report audits that fulfill the audit objectives of the audit client (usually the Man Rep for internal audits).

Once you have a competent instructor and the records as evidence of this then ask the instructor to recommend the teaching methods and materials.

I would not start by finding some materials.

John

John Broomfield said:

jimmy,

The instructor(s) has to be competent to teach and coach. The internal auditors have to be competent to plan, conduct and report audits that fulfill the audit objectives of the audit client (usually the Man Rep for internal audits).

Once you have a competent instructor and the records as evidence of this then ask the instructor to recommend the teaching methods and materials.

I would not start by finding some materials.

John

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I agree that the instructor is the main component in a training program for ANY skill. There are literally hundreds of paper-based and computer-based training programs out there. Most of them have excellent content. The one thing they don't have is eyes on assessment of the student and how well the student appears to be assimilating the content.

I have often commented here in the Cove about how underwhelmed I have been by so-called quality experts who have achieved high scores on certification tests for the various ASQ certs, but are STILL worthless in an on-the-job situation. Being able to parrot back the text book in a test situation is NOT equivalent to using that information in a slightly different situation when time and money and tempers are all on the line.

This is somewhat dependent on the standard you're looking to satisfy. Aerospace and automotive have higher requirements than, say, ISO9001. I agree that the instructor is key and the first question I would ask is whether they do real world exercises or do they sit in the classroom all day.

When I was in ISO activities I designed all our training and re-training for our IA Group and never had a single issue. I had seven Internal Auditors.

jimmymustang06 said:

Has anyone used a training package from sites on the net for an in-house training program?

We typically hire companies to come in and train, costing $1000's, with mixed results. I recently found a website that offers what seems to be a complete internal auditor training program. I do not know if I can post addresses so suffice to say it's one that comes up at the beginning of a google search. The presentation looks to cover everything including quizzes and tests, but I do not know if the level of training in core tools is sufficient and I'm not sure how much more I would have to cover to meet the requirement.. I know that our external services just briefly cover core tools and that has always seemed to satisfy 3rd party auditors..

Click to expand...

jimmy,

Selecting only the "volunteers" for auditor training who exhibit the required behaviors enables them to become competent auditors after they learn (and apply) the required skills and knowledge.

I would like to know if these auditor behaviors recommended in ISO 19011 can be learned:

• Ethical - fair, truthful, sincere, honest and discreet;
• Open-minded - willing to consider alternative ideas or points of view;
• Diplomatic - tactful in dealing with people;
• Observant - actively observing physical surroundings and activities;
• Perceptive - aware of and able to understand situations;
• Versatile - able to readily adapt to different situations;
• Tenacious - persistent and focused on achieving objectives;
• Decisive - able to reach timely conclusions based on logical reasoning and analysis;
• Self-reliant - able to act and function independently whilst interacting effectively with others;
• Acting with fortitude - able to act responsibly and ethically, even though these actions may not always be popular and may sometimes result in disagreement or confrontation;
• Open to improvement - willing to learn from situations, and striving for better audit results;
• Culturally sensitive - observant and respectful to the culture of the auditee;
• Collaborative - effectively interacting with others, including audit team members and the auditee?s personnel.

...and if their opposite behaviors can be unlearned!

To avoid wasting the training budget, we have to be careful who we select for auditor training and, of course, who we select as the trainer and coach.

John