Blog: Being the Bearer of Bad News Is Never Easy for 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:

Every profession has its ups and downs, and internal audit is certainly no exception. In fact, some of the most awkward and, yes, even painful moments can occur when we need to deliver bad news to good people. And, if these moments are difficult for internal auditors, rest assured they are even more distressing for our clients.

Like it or not, there are times when, based on our audit results, we have to tell clients things they don’t want to hear. It’s never easy, for example, to tell someone that the audit results were “unsatisfactory.” It’s even harder to tell a colleague that you found a major fraud in their division, especially one that involved once-trusted employees or that had devastating financial consequences.

But for internal auditors, delivering difficult news is part of the job, and it’s a responsibility we shouldn’t avoid simply because of uneasiness. As Sophocles said more than 2,000 years ago, “No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.” But being the bearer of bad news doesn’t necessarily have to derail internal auditors’ relationships with their clients. There are right ways and wrong ways to deliver bad news, and how we do it can preserve or even strengthen client relationships — not end them. Our words can soften the blow or add insult to injury, impacting our audit effectiveness as well as our stress levels. That’s why every internal auditor needs to learn to deliver bad news like a pro.

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