How to Hack Your Internal Auditor Performance Reviews

Problem: You think that you have no control over your performance reviews. So, you just accept whatever is given to you. You’re wrong.

Solution: Hack the process and take back control.

There are certain situations where you don’t want to be bashful about your skills and accomplishments. One of those is your performance review.

There are three main purposes of a performance review or annual evaluation, from your perspective as an internal auditor.

1. The first is to keep your job. Generally, if you’re less than satisfactory on your performance review, you’re in danger of getting fired or demoted.

2. The second reason is to help obtain any performance or annual awards that your organization may offer. Some organizations may give you a bonus. Others may give you some time off, and still others may give you a nice pat on the back, otherwise known as “jack”.

3. The third reason is to help you get promoted. This includes promotions within your organization and outside your organization. Both types of promotions may require that you provide past performance reviews. Therefore, you need to strive to try and make sure all of your performance reviews are outstanding.

Hacking the performance review system

Your annual performance reviews are a pain in the a$$ for your internal audit manager.

It takes time, they’re usually due at the most inopportune times, and it’s difficult for them to pull together everything each employee did for the entire year.

Here’s what you need to do to help your internal audit manager, but more importantly, help your internal auditor self:

First, Keep track of everything you do.

Audits, special projects, quality review or referencing assignments, training, anything and everything. Go back to your emails, expense reports, and calendar, to find and locate anything and everything that you did throughout the prior year. Create a file or a document where you write all of it down. Any time a new assignment comes up, document it.

Do you think your manager is going to remember that nine months ago, Alicia worked through the weekend to help deliver the audit program to her internal audit manager on time? Heck no. It’s up to you.

Next, now dig into the details.

Write down what specific things you did, and why/how it was outstanding. Even if you can’t make it outstanding, make sure it meets standards.

For example, on your audit:

· Did you write the audit program?

· What tests did you execute?

· Did you provide any oversight or do any sort of leadership activities?

· Did you come up with any findings?

· What was the impact of those findings?

· Did you write the report?

· Did you go above and beyond for any of the above or for anything else?

Do the same thing for any of the other projects and activities that you worked on throughout the year. The idea is to come up with all of the great things that you did, that show your value. And if you think hard enough, and if you look at those things from just the right perspective, I’m sure you can see how you went above and beyond and were outstanding.

Next, relate everything you did, back to your performance evaluation elements/metrics.

Go through each of your performance elements one by one. For each element, write up, whenever possible, how you have exceeded those expectations and how your performance was outstanding. Back it up with specific examples.

For example:

· Performance element 3, subsection D: Written Communications.

· “Throughout the year, I produced 27 specific, significant, quality written communications.”

· Audit Program. “This is what I did, this is why it was significant, this is why it was a quality document.”

· Audit Report #1.

· Memo #1.

· Status Report #1.

· Email #1.

· Etc.

You get the idea. In addition to including as many examples as you can think of, and why they were significant and outstanding, use the verbiage directly from your performance elements to make your points. For example, your metrics may state that your written communications should be “clear, concise, and well-organized” and that to be rated outstanding you need to produce a product that it is “of the highest quality and has received or deserved special recognition”.

Great. Now, write up your review so that it states “why the status report met or exceeded the standards: the status report was clear, concise, and well-organized. Why the status report was outstanding: In addition, the audit executive commented in an email, after reviewing the document, ‘excellent job’. See attached.”

Next, grab your performance evaluation from last year

Notice how your internal audit manager organizes the content and presents the information. Use their same format. When the end of the year comes, send your internal audit manager your ‘self-assessment’ to ‘help’ them write your performance review.

Make sure you get your self-assessment to them early, so they have plenty of time to incorporate it. In many instances, after reading your self-assessment, your internal audit manager will simply copy and paste it into the official performance review document.

Why it works

It makes your internal audit manager’s job easier. They will appreciate it. You’re helping your internal audit manager, help you, to receive an outstanding evaluation.

If you have a difficult internal audit manager or are under appreciated, this will provide empirical evidence on your actual value; it will help change your perceived value. It might not cure the root issue you’re dealing with, but it will force your internal audit manager to consider your perspective, especially when it’s backed up with indisputable evidence.

Be realistic

If your internal audit manager gives you a lower-than-expected rating, consider whether it’s justified. I get it. It hurts.

But consider it from an independent third-party perspective. Be honest with yourself. You may need to work on yourself. No big deal. Put in the work so that in your next review, you’ll have all the evidence to prove that you now excel in that particular area.

In summary:

1. Don’t be bashful about your skills and accomplishment.

2. Hacking your performance review means helping your internal audit manager help you.

3. Keep track of everything you do throughout the year, in great detail.

4. Relate everything you do back to your performance elements/metrics.

5. Write up your self-assessment in the format that your internal audit manager uses, and write it in such a manner that you’re A+, outstanding.

6. Be realistic. You may need to improve in certain areas.

Check out our Newsletter “Secrets of Millionaire Internal Auditors — Mastering the Game of Internal Auditing & Getting Rich While Doing It” for street-smarts, in-the-trenches internal auditing hacks, techniques and strategies that you won’t get anywhere else.