Auditee Must Communicate

I was working for this organization few years back.

The Plant Manager was always conscious of auditors and audits.

He kept is team on toes.

It helped in good preparation.

But despite all preparations he always advocated that speak less with the auditors.

Let them ask questions? Answer briefly, crisply and to the point.

After the Audit he would always get hold of those who were pointed out for their weaknesses in their work.

The Result was an environment of fear.

Optically everyone worked extra hard to avoid audit observations.

There was more rush hour work than actual work in the organization.

Those who could twist, turn and mould the talks were chosen as auditees’ and irrespective of their actual job descriptions they used to defend others for the jobs they had hardly any idea.

As the time passed, the top man started educating his team leaders not to be caught by auditors. They were asked to answer only when asked. They were asked to be mum and quiet otherwise.

Now Auditors also have a duty to perform.

They cant go back with empty reports because their performance depends upon their audit points.

One of the most outstanding guy that I knew suffered because of this paradigm.

He followed his boss and kept as much quiet as he could and the result was the auditors wrote in their report that Mr Simple did not know ABC of his work. They wrote so much against him that he felt hurt and deceived.

This indeed is a quizzical situation.

As Auditee we must not be so quiet that the auditors declare us as dumb.

We should be brave enough to absorb the blunt of our doings.

In my opinion hiding or not sharing the information/knowledge to those who might be helping us in the end is a bigger crime than actual follies..

Auditee Must brief auditors on how he works, what are the procedures and what limitations he faces in implementing them and auditors must also evaluate on ground facts and not just individual briefs.

Written by Captain Zahid Faqir (Retired), MSPS & MAIR

DGM HSEQ at Combined Cycle 560 MW Power Plant in Karachi, Pakistan

Look forward to Comments, Your Opinion and Responses that can further polish my opinions.

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