I must apologize for having borrowed this line from one of Deep Purple’s most touching songs.

Auditors of fortune?  Yes, that is what we are, indeed: like mercenary soldiers under the command of some  well-paying general or king or emperor.  We mainly audit for money, while the codes of conduct imposed upon us by the personnel certification bodies never mention money.

Those codes emphasize skills.

There is a vicious habit going on, since years: an auditor resigns his Registrar (Certification Body) and brings with him – or her – the key customers to the Registrar he or she will work for.

From this point of view, consultants seem to behave more ethically, they maintain good relationships with a number of Registrars.

But – from the same point of view – it’s the registered companies that features poorly: they go from one Registrar to another just like “candles in the wind”.

It’s OK that the cost of being registration is a fixed, though not significant, cost.  Companies look for savings; although the new Registrar is not always cheaper than his previous competitor.

But what hits is that registered companies are often too easy-going when changing Registrar: price first, auditor friendliness second.

In clearer words, the registered companies say: “I want to pay less and I don’t want any audit problems.”

There is much to be said about auditors’ behavior when field-auditing.  Some are so touchy that they raise a lengthy list of non conformities.  Others, close one eye, when not two, and just record opportunities for improvement, or recommendations.

This is very confusing to registered companies: the same company, different Registrars, different audit results.  Not good!

QUALITY AUDITOR QUALIFICATIONS
I have written something on the – disputable – value of accredited registrations.  Now I come to the – at least as disputable – value of certified auditor qualifications.

Not long ago, I attended an auditor training course on BS OHSAS 18001 – health and safety on work place, certainly not a light matter.  The training organization was new in the field, it wanted customers, so it looked for an “easy” accreditation, which it found in an also new accreditation body, that also was looking for customers.

Needless to say, all examinations results were positive.

How can any auditor qualified in this way add value to the work he or she does on the field?

It only depends on his or her goodwill.

There is a market catch: most Registrars use free-lance auditors.  The reason why is quite evident; no incoming registration orders, no outgoing fixed costs.  Free-lance auditors – as anybody – need money for making a living, so they do their best to keep the customer – that is the Registrar – satisfied.

Closing eyes is a best practice.

And the Registrar does the same, too, seesawing between the paying Customer and the supervising Accreditation Body.

In some twenty years auditor career I have come to the conclusion that registration credibility is at risk, whatever the registration scheme.  We daily hear of scandals connected to poor registrations, though official they are.

PROFESSIONAL QUALITY AUDITOR
My feeling is that we must develop the role of “auditor of fortune” to the role of “professional auditor”.

In other words, a professional auditor cannot just be a somebody who is allured into such a career, but a person who has the personal characteristics required to effectively perform as an independent and objective auditor.

Auditing is not an easy job.  Certainly in most companies, auditors are welcomed on a red carpet, hosted in the best restaurants and hotels.  Cheating illusions.

Auditor’s profession can do a lot to improve industry’s performance, provided industry  managers believe in the auditors’ work and value proposition.  Secondly, auditors do professional work.