Operational Auditing: Influencing Positive Change in an Organisation

OBJECTIVES
• Identify how the changing business environment has influenced past trends in operational auditing.
• Examine key skill sets and knowledge essentials associated with a trusted advisor.
• Review key aspects of the project planning process that promote the successful outcome of operational audit engagements.
• Describe operations objectives and the drivers of associated risks, measures of risk events, design of operations-focused controls, and criteria to evaluate operational performance.
• Discuss the application of business process improvement methods and tools during an operational audit.
• Define the different types of benchmarking and measurement criteria and explain how benchmarking methodology can be used during an operational audit.
• Discuss different reporting approaches and persuasive strategies to attain management’s buy-in to results and solutions.

CONTENT
Dynamics of Operational Auditing
• Determine the factors that influenced past trends in operational auditing
• Examine operational auditing today in terms of its changing nature, and the application of alternative methods and tools vs. traditional audit steps
• Identify operational audit opportunities across the entire organization
• Construct a value proposition to communicate how internal audit can be a high-impact partner in creating business value

Value Centric Skill Sets and Knowledge
• Determine how to drive a positive change in management’s mindset about the internal auditor and internal audit activity
• Assess your current level of technical and business knowledge
• Assess your current level in value centric skill sets

Planning for Success
• Recognize the key aspects of, and differences in, planning for operational audit engagements
• Employ different sources of information to build business and technical knowledge during project planning
• Prepare effectively for discussions with client management to achieve the meeting objectives
• Create objectives that identify what the operational audit is intended to accomplish
• Examine the relationship between, and need to align, the objectives, scope and approach to performing the operational audit engagement

The Risk-based Operational Audit
• Identify the assumptions associated with a risk-based approach to operational auditing
• Discuss risk-based terminology to ensure a common understanding
• Appraise alignment of operations objectives with the organization’s mission and strategic objectives
• Evaluate performance measurement criteria for operations objectives
• Determine which operations drive value creation
• Predict potential risk events in relation to operations objectives and goals
• Develop risk statements
• Develop measures to assess the impact and likelihood of potential risk events
• Discover operations focused controls and methods to manage risk and realize opportunities
• Decide the appropriate tools and techniques to document operating information
• Assess the design of operations focused control and methods
• Evaluate the operational performance of risk management strategies
• Develop alternative solutions to address operating issues
• Convince client management about the value of proposed solutions

The Process Oriented Operational Audit
• Describe the application of business process improvement concepts to an operational audit
• Outline the components of business processes
• Assemble baseline data and information
• Utilize process models and analysis tools to discover issues and improvement opportunities
• Apply process improvement techniques
• Illustrate proposed changes
• Outline the benefits and improvements
• Describe the importance of testing and measuring process changes

The Performance-driven Operational Audit
• Explain the application of benchmarking concepts to an operational audit
• Determine the operations to benchmark
• Define relevant and appropriate benchmarking measurement criteria and indicators
• Perform comparative analysis to identify performance gaps and opportunities
• Summarize benchmarking results
• Evaluate potential performance improvement opportunities
• Discuss benchmarking results with client management

Creating a Positive Impact
• Assess the impact of various reporting approaches, and structure
• Examine stylistic factors and persuasive strategies to attain buy-in to the results

METHODOLOGY
The training methodology integrates lectures, interactive discussions, collaborative group exercises, and illustrative examples. Participants will acquire a blend of theoretical insights and hands-on practical experience, emphasizing the application of learned techniques. This approach ensures that attendees return to their professional environments equipped with both the competence and self-assurance to effectively implement the acquired skills in their responsibilities.

DATE:
1ST BATCH: 18th – 21st Feb,2025
2ND BATCH: 29th July – 1st Aug,2025