Sunday evenings are always dedicated to my catch-up calls with mentees from across the globe. Recently, in one of our mentorship sessions, I learned that the IS audit profession was unheard of in one of my mentee’s country of residence.
Unless you have worked in an audit firm or in an organization that has an audit function, or in an industry that is highly regulated and required to have audits done, the exact work of IS auditors may not be familiar.
You may be shocked to know there are few or no IS auditors in some areas of the globe. Well, I am not shocked because even from my usual encounters, I have had to explain repeatedly what the IS audit profession is, what exactly auditors do, when the profession surfaced in the market, and a variety of other questions, including:
- Do you audit financial statements, too?
- How come I have not heard about IT/IS auditors before?
- So, you can audit systems – how in the world does that happen?
- How accurate can your findings be?
- What tools do auditors use?
- How do you become an IS auditor?
- Do you work for the auditor-general?
- How many IT auditors are there in the country?
- Can we afford to pay an IS auditor?
You get the picture: a lot of questions from different audiences come my way when I mention my designation. Meanwhile, as organizations compete against each other to acquire the scarce IT audit talent available, IT audit salaries keep escalating, meaning that many organizations can’t afford to hire as many experienced IT audit professionals. So, the existing workforce is asked to take on more work and responsibilities, which in turn causes burnout. In most organizations, you find only one IS auditor among 3-10 other auditors, some organizations haven’t yet considered hiring IT auditors, and in other regions, IS audit professionals are generally few.
What does this point toward?
Well, in pre–COVID-19 times, it was common to hear hiring managers refer to the talent supply of IT/IS auditors as “soft.” But that mindset changed with the reality of labor market attrition and The Great Resignation. The IT audit skill shortage is impacting every organization’s ability to execute talent growth strategies successfully.
Alarmingly, many IT auditors are leaving the profession. There is a major employee retention problem, due in large part to constant staffing shortages, the incredible pressure of many IT audit jobs, as well as a perception problem around the industry. As people leave the field, the shortages become even worse, which causes more people to depart.
Hiring managers are aggressively looking for ways to retain talent and get more professionals across the IT industry to make more accurate, informed and targeted workforce decisions. Here are several ways to proactively beef up the IS audit talent and skills gap worldwide:
- Effective talent and growth strategies in the current environment will only be possible to achieve by looking for ways to be much more targeted in identifying, retaining and acquiring critical IT audit skills through sponsoring upcoming IT auditors, providing internship opportunities, refresher training, awareness, promotions, IT audit certifications and industry experience. The rigor of execution from hiring managers to accelerate people-related decisions around staffing, selection, retention, building internal capabilities and more will be a key differentiator in covering the gap at a faster pace. There is a need for the right level of flexibility and a transformation mindset that hiring managers will need in this market environment.
- Hiring managers should break the barriers of entry to the IT/IS audit profession. For example, they should encourage serial tasking instead of multi-tasking requirements on job descriptions.
- While drafting annual plans, allocate space for IS auditors to have an “unwind period” after every audit engagement to enable them to refresh and research as a way of enabling them to start on new audit engagements with revitalized minds.
- We must promote understanding of IT auditors’ values and skills across the organization - IS audit is not just a “nice-to-have” position in the organization, but getting skills right in the IS auditing profession is challenging. There are ways in which hiring teams can exert control over the IS skills needed in the workforce to deliver on the emerging trends and what the current workforce needs.
- Focus on upskilling and reskilling IT auditors. Many aren’t keeping their skills up to date.The challenges that employers need to tackle change over time, such as focusing on internal and external pieces of training. Encourage employees to gain leading IT audit credentials, such as ISACA’s new IT Audit Fundamentals Certificate for industry newcomers and the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) for those with more professional experience.
- Organizations may consider partnering with recruitment agencies or external advisors to combine expert skills-based consulting and talent intelligence platforms to link real-time intelligence with analytics to make a significant difference in IT audit skills management. Talent insight solutions can leverage AI to evaluate skills pre- and post-close to address skills gap implications, as well as staffing needs. Such insights will empower hiring teams to better understand IT audit skills and provide knowledge to build execution strategies throughout the recruitment lifecycle.
- Job descriptions should be current and flexible enough to provide room for interested candidates to apply for roles in IT/IS audit and assurance. Employers should set realistic expectations for IT auditors while developing IT audit job profiles.
- The continued flow of IT audit talent will require access to early insights into audit capabilities, mentorship, technical skills and risks to deliver on the anticipated audit return on investment.
- Higher learning institutions can embark on introducing students to the IT audit concepts early enough in the course content modules.
- Organizations should consider renewing professional memberships and contribute certification renewal fees for their IT auditors. This is one of the best motivations to attract and retain audit talent that is interested in professional development – as all auditors should be.
- Those interested in the IT audit profession should consider joining an audit firm to enhance their experience in IT audit and also to gain industry credibility.
- Experienced IT auditors can volunteer to give back to the profession through mentoring, coaching, and training both up-and-coming and experienced IT auditors.
- The pool of IT audit talent lacks sufficient diversity and inclusion. Hiring managers should encourage hiring IT audit professionals who are significantly underrepresented in the profession.
Are you considering a career switch? This is the right time to switch and join the IS audit profession. You are needed, and you will find this to be a rewarding career!