Internal Auditor Competency KPI

[vahidlp]

A written examination may verify some knowledge.

But competence also includes natural abilities or attributes (per ISO 19011 perhaps) which you may already have used for recruiting volunteers to serve on the audit team.

...and let us not forget the necessary skills.

I had expected you to say that you used supervisory measures such as:

• Reviewing the checklist for sufficiency per the audit objective.
• Attending opening meetings or closing meetings
• Follow up with auditee reps or the audit team leader
• Reviewing audit reports

etc...

Until each auditor is verified as competent.

My answer was based on the fact that I want to turn this competency into a quantity, not a quality. Of course, quality items can also be shown quantitatively by scoring, but the next problem is who can do this scoring? In fact, who should evaluate the competence of the person who is to examine the competence of the auditors?

 

[Jim Wynne]

My answer was based on the fact that I want to turn this competency into a quantity, not a quality.

What's important is what you expect of the internal auditing effort in general. You can turn it into a police force and have auditors going around hollering "GOTCHA!!!" or you can design it such that it results in process improvements. The question is not whether you can (necessarily) quantify the results into a meaningful index of some sort, but how you can determine the value and efficacy of internal auditing. Not everything that can be counted should be counted.

Of course, quality items can also be shown quantitatively by scoring, but the next problem is who can do this scoring?

Anyone can do it if objective measurements can be devised.

In fact, who should evaluate the competence of the person who is to examine the competence of the auditors?

It's Turtles all the way down!!

 

[mihzago]

You can apply process approach and call almost any activity 'a process', but in my opinion, not all activities identified in ISO13485 or other standard should be called 'processes'. For example, training, document control, internal audit, management responsibility, are not true 'processes' but rather risk-based control measures and activities supporting the 'main/core processes' such design and development, production, service, etc.
If you consider everything a process and try to come up with KPIs for everything, you'll spend more time creating metrics, measuring them and trying to figure out what the data means rather than making practical use of these activities.

 

[Randy]

According to your points, in my opinion, holding a periodic exam can prove the competence of the auditors and the result of the auditors in this exam can be considered as KPI. what is your opinion?

It would fully depend upon the design of the exam.......

Make a multiple choice, YES-NO exam and I'll take it now sight unseen and probably be determined to be competent (as would many others)... But would I really be?

Exams don't prove competence, they just serve as a means to validate a level of understanding and short/long term memory of subject matter.

 

[Howard Atkins]

I think I did not express my meaning correctly. According to the point made to us by DQS, when the standard mentions "documented process", the inputs and outputs mentioned in that requirement must be mentioned in the turtle diagram of one (or more) of the organization's processes. (One of our auditors keeps repeating a sentence: You can mix the documented process but you should not miss it).
We are now asked to define indicators to monitor these cases.

I would question the auditor as to what he is talking about.