How to get the best certification auditor for your next audit.
When choosing a certification body, we often evaluate based on price. It's reasonable, the cost of certification can be high, and it pays to shop around.
When it comes to an external auditor we can feel that we have no choice, we get what we get, but remember;
- You are paying for the privilege.
- You want to get value.
- You want a positive experience for yourself, your team and your customers.
Let's explore the three areas you should consider when choosing an external auditor:
- Experience
- Competence
- Style
Experience
When it comes to accepting an auditor from a certification body you should consider their experience.
Ask yourself:
Have they worked in my field?
Have they audited similar organisations?
Consider auditor one:
He was very experienced in the world of petroleum, trouble was, he was auditing a day hospital.
He had seen on the news that week the reports about CJD (Mad cow disease) and the risk of transmission in surgery and spent the whole audit focused on that. This provided little value to the team and took up a lot of time trying to explain to him why it wasn't a risk to their patients.
Having relevant experience is important but also beware of the auditor with too much experience.
Consider auditor two:
The auditor who spent the whole time telling the leadership team how they should run their business because "when I owned my business that's how we did it".
When you are planning your audit, choosing a certification body and accepting an auditor remember, YOU HAVE CHOICES.
Competence
Having a competent auditor can make the difference between an audit that adds value and an audit that doesn't.
Some auditors have audited for years, others are newly qualified.
Is it better to have an experienced auditor or a newly qualified one?
I would argue that the length of time in a role doesn't always correlate with competence.
Auditors with many years under their belt can become jaded, rushing to get the report finished or have their own ideas about how you should interpret the standards.
Newer auditors can be more up to date with standards if they have just received training and may be keen to look thoroughly at your evidence in greater depth.
Sometimes a new auditor’s enthusiasm can provide more value, other times it can be frustrating if they are unsure what they are looking for.
A more experienced auditor may be able to see past some of the more operational components of the standards and provide a more strategic focus if you have mature systems.
Consider the competence of the auditor to make sure you get the value you are looking for in your audit.
Style
Just as we all have preferred ways of working, auditors have preferred ways of auditing. Some prefer looking at documents, others like to get out and talk to people.
Understanding your auditors’ style can help you get more value from your audit.
Ask yourself; do they have a document or a people focus?
Document focus
These auditors are happiest if you sit them in a room alone with folders full of evidence.
The benefits of this are that you can control what they see, however, the downside is you don't get a true picture of how you are faring, and it takes a lot of preparation.
People focus
These auditors prefer to see evidence at the source. They like to venture to people's work areas and talk to them about what they do. This gives you a better picture of what's happening in your organisation.
Matching your auditors style to your needs can mean the difference between audit value and not.
To get the best value find an auditor who is happy to talk to people.
So how do you get the best auditor?
I like to compare getting a good auditor as similar to recruiting any other candidate who would like to work in your organisation.
When the certification body tells you who will be conducting your audit follow these steps to make sure you know their experience, competence and, style:
- Read their profile on the certification body website
- Check their profile on LinkedIn
- Ask your colleagues in the industry for any recommendations or feedback
- Ask the certification body for their full resume
- And remember, if they don't feel like a good fit .....YOU’RE ALLOWED TO SAY NO
Have you ever wished you checked out the auditor before they arrived?
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If you would like to talk to me personally you can email me at bek@rebeccabradshaw.com.au or call me on 0403857054.