What Happens When A Chief Audit Executive Knows Very Little About Internal Audit?

We've all seen it. A person is transferred into the CAE role with little or no internal audit experience. The organisation sees it as a great opportunity for the new CAE to get a cross functional view of the organisation, and to bring some organisational knowledge to the internal audit team. After all, they figure, how hard can it be?

There are typically three outcomes with this scenario. First, the internal audit team maintains the status quo and the new CAE goes along with what the team has always done - good or bad. Second, the new CAE comes in, making significant and immediate changes without necessarily having the buy-in from either the internal audit function or the broader organisation. Third, a hybrid of the first two where changes are made, but over an extended period and with at least some relevant conversations.

The challenge for the new CAE can often be where to turn to for professional advice and support. After all, they've been put into a leadership role and may not want to indicate that they have things to learn. That's where resources like www.internalauditquality.com come in. The website is a new, free knowledge centre designed to support CAEs to build audit quality. With plans to add a new quality tool each week, the resources provides a valuable (and anonymous) way for CAEs to increase their internal audit knowledge.