Training as a Retention Tool

Internal Auditor, Oct, 2001 by Diane Sears Campbell

Many employers are introducing innovative ways to keep their internal auditors professionally challenged so they will stay on the payroll.

LUIS MARTINEZ HAS always kept his eyes on the carrot. The former internal auditor knew he wanted to be a corporate leader from the time he joined Lockheed Martin Corp. six years ago fresh out of Notre Dame with a mechanical engineering degree. Since then, he has methodically planned out each step of his career. Today, as a change management project manager at Lockheed Martin's Orlando, Fla., site, Martinez looks back on his one-plus years in auditing as one step that made all the difference.

His scenario is a common one: Auditors stay with the job for approximately three years, learn what they can, and then move on - often taking jobs with other organizations that reap the benefits of their training. But for the past few years, major employers have launched innovative training and development programs to entice their auditors to either stay in auditing or take promotions within the organization so they keep their skills "in the family."

A NEW GENERATION

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which employs 325 auditors worldwide, was feeling the effects of a trend among today's workers to migrate to new jobs every two or three years as a way to move up the corporate ladder. So a few years ago, the audit department put together a team of internal auditors and audit supervisors to create an improved training and development plan for high-potential employees.

The effort resulted in a program that rotates workers in and out of the audit department, enabling them to see parts of the company and associate with top level leaders they wouldn't have been exposed to in other jobs. In exchange, these auditors commit to serving at least two years with the company after their training and take 40 hours of job-related education annually.

The program is aimed at encouraging young, talented workers to remain with the company, even if they don't stay in auditing, says John Lewis, chief audit executive for the global retail chain. "You really don't try to keep people in internal auditing," Lewis says. "Most people look upon internal auditing as a grooming ground for something else."

This new generation's workers are more aggressive about their career goals than their parents and grandparents were, Lewis says. It's not even about money. On Wal-Mart's annual employee surveys, compensation is not at the top of the list. It's about career growth. "You have to give them opportunity or you're going to lose them," Lewis explains.

Wal-Mart's new audit training and development program consists of several components:

* EDUCATION. A dynamic, four-level curriculum teaches employees not only auditing skills but "soft skills" such as communication and leadership. The first level addresses fundamental skills and Wal-Mart policies. Level two covers creative and technical development. The third level focuses on managerial skills, and the fourth addresses leadership. Employees can choose from more than 100 different courses, some mandatory and some elective. They can also attend outside seminars.

* CROSS-TRAINING. Wal-Mart wants its audits to be coordinated with one another to make the business run more smoothly, so auditors sometimes swap places. This gives them different perspectives about the organization and its operation and helps them see how corporate audits, store audits, information system audits, and other functions work together.

* JOB SHADOWING. Auditors are assigned to spend a few days following a merchant or store manager on the job so they can see what kinds of challenges the retail chain faces on the front lines. "It helps us better appreciate their business ... and we're focused on their needs," Lewis says.

* CERTIFICATION INCENTIVE. When audit employees pass certification exams, Wal-Mart reimburses them for their expenses.

* PLACEMENT. Once audit employees fulfill their two-year, 8o-hour training terms, they can ask to be put on a list for transfer to another department. That list is e-mailed to all executive management. Approximately 10 percent of the auditors are placed into other departments annually.

"When talking about training and development, you must take the whole package into consideration," Lewis says. "We think it is a very innovative and dynamic program."

And the program's success is showing up in hard figures. According to Lewis, the corporation's turnover rate has dropped to about one-third of what it was before the education program was implemented two years ago.

CHALLENGING CURRICULUM

At The Vanguard Group Inc., an international investment firm that employs about 40 auditors nationwide, approximately 70 percent of the employees who leave internal auditing go on to promotions within the corporation, says Robert Mainardi, a senior audit manager with the firm. Mainardi's responsibilities include training the company's internal auditors and creating focused audit training and development curriculums.

Part of the reason Vanguard's audit employees choose to stay with the company is because of Vanguard's commitment to training and development, Mainardi says. Internal auditing is a job where ambitious employees can learn about all parts of the company as they study ways to make the organization operate more effectively. "It's really designed as a breeding ground for managers," Mainardi says. "You're getting exposure to so many different arenas."