Blog: ​Returning to Workplaces Will Be Risky: Roll Up Your Sleeves, Internal Audit

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:

After weeks of uncertainty and anxiety over the COVID-19 pandemic, sporadic signs of normalcy are beginning to appear. A growing number of jurisdictions are easing or lifting stay-at-home directives, and organizations are turning their focus to return-to-workplace strategies. Multitudes from all levels of the economy, from consumers to front-line workers to heads of industry, are eager to return to once-familiar settings and routine business activities.

But these signs of normalcy are only mirages. I am certainly not the first to note that business as we knew it before COVID-19 will likely never return. In less than six months, the pandemic has killed almost 300,000 people globally, wreaked havoc on economies, boosted unemployment to historic levels, and rewritten the rules for the workplace.

What is clear is that the direct and indirect impacts and risks created by this scourge will reverberate well into this new decade. As internal auditors, our understanding of risk and risk management will serve our organizations well. In particular, our ability to recognize new and emerging risks places us in an ideal position to offer great value as wave after wave of unexpected hazards batter our organizations.

Read the full InternalAuditor.org blog post from IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers.