Blog: It’s Hard for Internal Auditors to “Follow the Risks” When There Is No Consensus
In his blog, IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers, CIA, QIAL, CGAP, CCSA, CRMA, shares his personal reflections and insights on the internal audit profession. Here’s an excerpt from his latest post:
One of the persistent challenges internal auditors face is finding alignment with stakeholders on the risks that most threaten their organizations. For many years, I have written about the importance of building relationships with those we work for and with to nurture communications that support alignment. Indeed, the most common advice I’ve offered to chief audit executives (CAEs) over the years is “know what is keeping our stakeholders up at night” and “follow the risks.”
A recently published report from Protiviti and the North Carolina State University ERM Initiative helps shed light on that alignment (or misalignment). Executive Perspectives on Top Risks: Key Issues Being Discussed in the Boardroom and C-suite examines risks facing organizations in 2021 and beyond as seen by a wide variety of respondents, from board members to every position that makes up the C-suite, including CAEs.
Two key takeaways from the report offer a good news/bad news scenario. First the good news: There is encouraging uniformity across the respondent mix about the No. 1 risk facing organizations in 2021 — the impact of COVID-19-related policies and regulations on business performance. The bad news: That’s where the consensus ends. While this is not ideal from an ERM perspective, it is useful in building awareness of the critical need for alignment.
Read the full InternalAuditor.org blog post from IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers.
