Auditing senior management

The auditing of senior management is a sensitive issue. However, it is important that organizations, rather than focusing their attention solely on the quality manager during audits, start to involve the whole of top management in the auditing process as well. According to the Auditing Practices Group, it is only through this total involvement that recommendations will turn into long-lasting improvements.

Auditors should involve top management in all stages of the audit such as inviting them to the opening and closing meetings, allowing sufficient time in the audit plan for interviewing them, discussing audit findings directly with them, seeking evidence of their commitment and so on. It is important to change the focus of attention from just the quality manager to the top management of the organization. The auditor should consider top management activities to be processes, and should audit them accordingly.

Planning stage

The auditor needs to identify top management processes. He or she also must:

  • understand the organization and its management structure, by reviewing information such as organization charts, annual reports, business plans, company profiles, press releases and websites
  • make provision on the audit plan for gathering relevant information regarding top management commitment, directly from and by interviewing top management
  • understand the culture of the organization and its top management, in order to determine its impact on the audit plan – and make appropriate adjustments
  • take a professional approach in the auditor's own appearance, by determining the dress code of the organization
  • plan the timing of the top management interview, to ensure convenience and punctuality 

An auditor with limited auditing experience should not be assigned to interview top management

Conducting the audit

When interviewing top management, the auditor can, by utilising business terminology appropriate, ask relevant questions that:

  • seek to obtain evidence of top management’s awareness of and commitment to quality and its relevance to the organization's overall objectives and management system
  • establish evidence of conformity to the ISO 9001 requirements for management responsibility

Collecting and corroborating evidence

The auditor or audit team should be constantly looking for opportunities to corroborate the answers received from top management when interviewed. This includes:

  • the availability and relevance of policies and objectives
  • the establishment of linkage between the policies and objectives
  • obtaining the evidence that these policies and objectives are effective and understood throughout the organization
  • determining if the policies and objectives are appropriate for continual improvement of the quality management system and for the achievement of customer satisfaction
  • determining if top management are involved in management reviews.
    Additional interviewing and gathering of evidence may be needed to provide the necessary corroboration. The audit team should ensure that any additional evidence of top management commitment is also collected. The auditor or audit team should also review the collected evidence to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the information, and to provide confidence in the conclusions drawn.

Audit reporting

Auditors should prepare their audit reports in order to make them appropriate for presentation to the top management of organizations. It may be appropriate to present an executive summary of the audit report, suitable for presentation to the top management and key interested parties of the organization. The executive summary should highlight the key findings, both positive and negative, and identify opportunities for improvement.

 

Have your say on this topic right now by taking part in the discussion on auditor-related issues in the IRCA discussion forum.

 

The ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group is an informal group of QMS experts, auditors and practitioners drawn from the ISO Technical Committee 176 Quality Management and Quality Assurance (ISO/TC 176) and the IAF. It has developed a number of guidance papers and presentations that contain explanations about the auditing of QMSs. These reflect the process-based approach that is essential for auditing the requirements of ISO 9001.

 

This article is an edited version of ‘Auditing top management’ from the website of the ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group, and is reproduced courtesy of ISO and the IAF. These papers were developed on current best practice and therefore have not been formally endorsed as International Accreditation Forum (IAF) guidance or ISO TC176 interpretations. For further information about the Auditing Practices Group click here