IRCA INform

Cultural aspects of

auditing

When auditing do you take into account an organization’s culture? The Auditing Practices Group has created this helpful guide in how to be sensitive to cultural aspects

During the course of a career, an auditor may be required to audit organizations with vastly different internal ‘corporate’ cultures, and in varying ethnic, social, economic, political, or religious cultures. It is important that auditors are sensitive to these cultural issues in order to avoid possible conflict, but at the same time remain impartial in carrying out an audit.

Auditors also need to be able to express themselves in terms that will be understood, especially where language is an issue. It is important to remember that it is the auditors’ responsibility to adjust to the auditee’s language skills and that a lack of language skills by auditees should not prejudice the audit outcome. Also, there may be different cultural and language aspects in separate parts of an organization, for example in multinational corporations.

In the planning stage

The best time to consider possible cultural aspects of the audit is during the planning stages. When you select your audit team, consider personal characteristics such as gender, language abilities, social skills and any potential cultural conflicts that may arise from choosing a particular individual. Whenever possible, it is desirable to use auditors who are familiar with local languages and customs. Alternatively, it may be appropriate to seek guidance prior to conducting the audit.

When creating your audit schedule you must respect the typical working hours of the auditee whenever possible as well as any relevant traditions, holidays, meal times and prayer times. If you are performing an audit in another country, consider whether you need to have anything independently translated and allocate extra time for this.

In your planning stage don’t forget to include time to brief the audit team on any areas of potential cultural sensitivity. Any significant cultural aspects should be evaluated during a stage one audit and it may be appropriate to make modifications prior to stage two and subsequent audits.

Considering a corporate culture

All organizations are different and there is no standard corporate culture. The internal culture may be independent of the external culture in which the organization exists. There are many aspects that need to be considered. The following are some examples.

Degree of formality/dress code

Auditors may be at a psychological disadvantage if they are dressed too informally and most certification bodies have dress codes in place to address this. Equally significant is the possibility for auditors to be over-dressed, thereby running the risk of being uncomfortable or inhibiting the auditee and affecting the audit outcome.

A useful tip when preparing for an audit is to dress like the organization’s directors. Auditing a farm in a tropical country requires a vastly different dress code than auditing an investment bank in a major financial capital in a cold climate. Pre-audit visits, stage one audits and basic common sense are all useful tools in determining what style of dress is appropriate.

Organizational hierarchy

It is important to recognize that formal does not necessarily mean good and informal does not necessarily mean bad. Some of the best-run organizations are very informal in their management style and, in particular, their hierarchical interactions and communications.

Auditors need to be sensitive to organizational protocols with respect to organizational hierarchies, but should not be inhibited from communicating directly with the person who is actually doing the work. The tendency to only talk to the manager should be avoided at all costs, though it may be necessary to give the manager some extra face-to-face time, in order to avoid embarrassment.

Approach to negative audit findings

It is important for all nonconformities identified during the audit to be properly documented and presented to the organization. Some organizational cultures are highly sensitive to and defensive of nonconformity reports and in some situations, management may seek to assign blame to the person responsible. This can create added tension during the audit, but should not deter auditors from raising such nonconformities. It may, however, be appropriate to re-emphasize the fact that the audit is aimed at verifying the system and not individuals.

By remaining aware of the many different culture aspects that can affect an audit, you can perform an audit sensitively and remain impartial. Bearing in mind the specific culture of an organization in the planning stage of your audit will help to reduce the possibility of any avoidable misunderstandings or clashes.

The ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group is an informal group of quality management system experts, auditors and practitioners drawn from the ISO Technical Committee 176 quality management and quality assurance (ISO/TC 176) and the International Accreditation Forum. It has developed a number of guidance papers and presentations that contain explanations about the auditing of quality management systems. These reflect the process-based approach that is essential for auditing the requirements of ISO 9001.

 

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