Evaluating Internal Auditor Training for ISO 9001:2000 (2008) ISO 14,000, TS 16949, etc.

So you need to get some of your employees trained to be internal auditors. There are lots of companies out there ready and willing to provide that training at a great variety of prices. But how do you know that the training organization that you choose will indeed provide the training that you need.

First of all price is NOT an indicator of value. High price simply means high price. However, too low of a price may well mean that the training value will be poor. Here are some guidelines, which you can use to evaluate potential sources for internal auditor training.

Trainer

First and foremost is the trainer. Is the trainer an experienced third party auditor? Anyone can read the quality standards and the ISO 19011 audit standard and create from that a training course but only active 3rd party auditor have the training and ongoing communication needed to understand the specific interpretations and focus of certification bodies. Active auditors are constantly provided with directions related to new priorities, new areas of concern and new revisions to standards. As a result, they are much better prepared to provide the latest information to audit students. Is the trainer experienced as a trainer? It is one thing to be aware of the requirements and experienced in their application. It is completely another to be able to effectively pass on that knowledge to others.

Length of the Training

Internal Auditor training takes 3 days. Anything less than that will be of very little value and certainly, one day will be worse than useless. More than three days is valuable if the additional days are used for the students to actually do audits with immediate feedback from the trainer. Since most companies are very much cost conscious trainers don’t generally offer this additional time unless the organization indicates that they would be interested.

Materials

Next is the materials provided to the students. Does the material include information above and beyond simple ‘Power Point’ slides? Well-produced presentations provide the basic data (talking points) on slides and more detailed information as text. If all that your employees leave the training with are ‘Power Point’ slides, they will have very little in the way of resources for their future needs. Does the material talk about actual auditing skills or is it simply a retelling of the text in the standards. Auditor training should produce auditors with the skills as well as the knowledge to conduct effective audits. There should be workshops and exercises included in the training where skills are practiced.

Evaluation

Is there an effective evaluation method? Is there at least a pre-test and post test? Are the tests real or are they designed for everyone to pass. You are going to rely on your new auditors to analyze data, evaluate effectiveness, and provide value. A training course that simply passes everyone will not effectively prepare your auditors to provide value to your organization.

With these considerations in mind your evaluation and choice of an audit trainer and audit course will have a good chance of providing your organization with effective, trained ‘Internal Auditors’.

Pat Ambrose has over 40 years of experience in Quality and Management Systems development.

He is an accomplished Auditor, Trainer, and Consultant.

He is located in Ontario, Canada

Pat can be contacted at: patrick.ambrose@xplornet.com