IIA chief wants internal auditors to focus on five key areas

In the Hindu Biness Line.com

Chennai, February 3:  

Richard Chambers, President and CEO of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the US, wants the internal auditing community in the country to focus on five key areas to stay relevant in a rapidly changing risk landscape in the business environment.

Addressing a two-day national conference on internal audit organised by The Institute of Internal Auditors of India, Madras Chapter, he said the five areas are listening to the customers/stakeholders, striving for agility, transforming the talent, reviving age-old internal processes and elevating the image of the profession.

“The one thing that has distinguished us in the past several decades is our agility to respond quickly when risks emerge. “If we fail to listen to the customers we support, we would become irrelevant. Also, be champions for the good risk management in the organisations you serve,” he asserted.

He also observed that the processes being done for the past four decades should be made efficient and modern. “It still takes months for some audit departments to prepare draft reports and that is an efficient way of doing things. “We all have to be effective on an everyday basis in the organisations we serve,” he added.

R Seshasayee, Chairman of the Board of Infosys, observed that continuous learning would play a crucial role in handling things in today’s environment.

He also felt that risk management and audit would converge in a very short period of time though one was looking forward and another looking backward. “I don’t see the need for internal audit and risk management staying separate,” he added.

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated February 4, 2017)