Millennium ready

Internal Auditor, Feb, 1999 by William E. Chadwick

13 INTERNAL CONTROL AWARDS Organizational awards have been issued by other professions for many years. Recognition of outstanding salespeople and organizations producing the fewest safety defects are examples of awards commonly issued by other groups.

Internal audit organizations should adopt this idea and issue an annual award, such as an Internal Control Awareness Award or a Best Practices Award. The award would be issued to the corporate division, subsidiary, department, or individual employee demonstrating the greatest appreciation for internal controls, implementing the most innovative business practice, or possessing the most effective control environment. A plaque should be awarded and pictures, with a related article, placed in the organizations newsletter.

We have issued an Internal Control Awareness Award for the past eight years at Boston College. The plaques are prominently displayed in various departments. One department head took his staff out to lunch to honor them for receiving the award. Another organization requested that all teachers from the department be included in the award presentation picture, These efforts not only encourage a positive internal control environment; they also provide a positive view of internal auditing and help market the function within the organization.

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For many audit shops, the exciting changes promised by the technological advances of today and tomorrow may portend the demise of their functions. Internal audit organizations that take creative risks and are willing to break

the paradigms of our stereotypical past will thrive, while those who refuse to change will likely be replaced by other service providers offering approaches adapted to modern times.

To meet the requirements of the future, internal audit organizations should develop a five-year plan that takes into account the organization's technological strategy and specifies how internal auditing will perform its role in the context of the organization's future automation plans.

We've taken those steps at Boston College and believe these 13 future best practices put us in good shape as we enter the next millennium. We realize that while our analytical thinking and creative problem-solving skills will still be necessary, the methodologies for using those skills must be made compatible with the ever-changing environment of our organization.

WILLIAM E. CHADWICK, CPA, CFE, is Director of Internal Audit for Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. You may reach him via e-mail at bill.chadwick@bc.edu.