Re: Internal Auditor - What is required to have someone qualified as an internal audi
Auditors, internal or external, it doesn't matter which, should be able to display those attributes and skills that are necessary in order to be a good auditor. In fact the definition of competence is "the demonstrated personal attributes and demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills" (3.14, ISO 19011:2002) and the definition of auditor is "person with the competence to conduct an audit" (3.8, ISO 19011:2002)
A major problem effecting a vast majority of presently existing management systems (and compounded by the auditors reviewing them, myself included) is the horribley poor state of the "competency" processes we sign off on. Very, very few organizations actually do what is required, but because "we" have tolerated sub-standard meeting of requirements we are now in the state of "sit in a class, pass a test" wham, bam, thank-you-mam, auditors.
Back on point, the attributes are those things that are layed out in ISO 19011:2002, clause 7.2 listed below and from where we get those necessary "people skills":
Auditors should possess personal attributes to enable them to act in accordance with the principles of auditing described in clause 4.
An auditor should be:
a) ethical, i.e. fair, truthful, sincere, honest and discreet;
b) open-minded, i.e. willing to consider alternative ideas or points of view;
c) diplomatic, i.e. tactful in dealing with people;
d) observant, i.e. actively aware of physical surroundings and activities;
e) perceptive, i.e. instinctively aware of and able to understand situations;
f) versatile, i.e. adjusts readily to different situations;
g) tenacious, i.e. persistent, focused on achieving objectives;
h) decisive, i.e. reaches timely conclusions based on logical reasoning and analysis; and
i) self-reliant, i.e. acts and functions independently while interacting effectively with others.