Are Auditors getting Younger?

Are they? Or is it just me? I have recently noticed that some police officers look barely out of their teens.

Without a doubt it is me, I’m steadily getting older and grumpier. However, there is something to the dwindling average age of Auditors. We need to turn the clock back a few years to illustrate the point.

Not long ago, only a few decades back, auditors were revered, globe-trotting experts, wielding expense cards with impunity. Certification Body auditors, in particular, embodied this “Mad Men” era.

Third-party auditors were at the pinnacle of their illustrious industrial careers. Now, they checked whether others were up to their lofty standards, occasionally packing a negative certification recommendation for those who failed to provide Jaffa Cakes at the opening meeting.

This proved very expensive for CB’s. Auditors could have been employees for years or joined the CB from the boardrooms of companies.

Something had to be done to attract fresh blood. New auditors, at a lower cost. Before bankruptcy or heart attacks forced the issue.

Those in the sector, such as organisations like the CQI (Chartered Quality Institute) and others, recognised the issue and so followed a campaign of making auditing an attractive option to younger people. I couldn’t cite specific initiatives but it was definitely the mood music.

Well, it worked.

As a provider of auditor training courses, we now see people in their early twenties on management systems courses; within a few years, they are qualified auditors. Years ago, courses smelt of Grecian 2000 and High Karate. Now the career choice feels aspirational amongst super smart, young, career minded professionals.

It’s quite inspiring.

So, auditors are getting younger and it’s a great thing. This week I met some good folks from the Combined Authority who were discussing school age learning, generally not specifically management systems. But it got me thinking 😉

I’m sure I saw a policeman shopping in H&M Kids the other day.