Audit Process

The word ‘audit’ is enough to put any business on edge. Often associated with convoluted and labour-intensive processes, large-scale audits can be a stressful, panicked time. It feels as if your business is never as prepared as they could be. And by the time you’ve recovered from one audit, another always seems to be looming. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Audits – whether it’s an annual fire risk assessment or weekly health and safety checks – can actually be simple and streamlined. With the right tools, audits stop being something to fear. Instead, they can be a great way to check in and get peace of mind that your business is as efficient and compliant as possible. Let’s look at three ways to make them that much smoother.

Adding witnesses

It’s common to have a single auditor on your records. But while this is normal, sometimes there will be witnesses you also want to record. At which point, it’ll be useful to have this functionality on your digital records – rather than names scribbled on a piece of paper.

Adding witnesses to audit overviews can be useful for training purposes. By searching and adding relevant employees, you create a concrete log of their witness activity, enabling you to monitor how much experience they have in certain areas.

It will also allow you to bypass permissions. As a witness, a member of staff can get visibility of the audit results they were privy to, even if their permissions wouldn’t allow them to otherwise. This further adds to their learning and development, and can propel them on the pathway to a more senior role. 

Automate the process

As of 2020, 31% of businesses have fully automated at least one function of their business. And that’s because it makes your staff’s lives so much easier. Creating an easily repeatable, standardised process is critical to taking the fear and stress out of your audits.

With all the necessary steps laid out before them, and able to tick off tasks as they go, your staff will feel more confident to perform any checks and tests. This will also be useful when it comes to staff changing roles or covering tasks during sickness or holiday. With all the relevant information and guidance available remotely, whoever’s completing an audit or check on a particular day is supported and informed on all that’s expected of them. 

Schedule in advance

Preparation is essential when it comes to simplifying your audits. With a clear schedule of what’s needed and when, last-minute preparations or late audits will become something of the past. 

Knowing what checks and tests are needed, how often, and exactly when enables individual sites and employees to act more independently and plan their time accordingly. In doing so, everyone’s workload becomes that much more manageable.

Automatic live reporting views save area managers or head office a lot of time and effort that would otherwise be spent keeping track of multiple sites and chasing individual team members to complete certain tasks. And individual members of the team feel more empowered to schedule their own days, prioritise their responsibilities, and feel more confident they’re achieving all they need to on a daily basis.

Audits aren’t the most simple or straightforward aspect of business. But there is technology out there that’s designed specifically to improve your audit process. By investing in the right tools, you can help your organisation become even more compliant and competitive.

Inform People empowers you to overhaul your auditing process. To find out more, get in touch with us via email or on +44 (0)161 713 4104.