With persistent resource shortages putting Internal Audit’s ability to deliver value at risk, our ability to “prove” our value to our organizations becomes incredibly important.

How do we reimagine our value proposition to stay relevant? 

What skills will set us apart now and in the future? 

Remarkably, time and time again — even in the age of AI — discussions on these topics often come back to so-called “soft skills” like relationship building, critical thinking, communication, and curiosity. 

That was exactly the case for a recent Internal Audit Collective webinar with CAEs Robert Taft and Agnessa Vartanova. They shared their perspectives on the “WOW Factor” skills that can help you stand out as a valuable team player and position yourself as a leader — or even an eventual CAE. 

Fortunately, the skills that “wow” CAEs are often the same skills that will help us wow our wider organizations. Read on for key takeaways, including what CAEs really hire for, asking better questions, telling a story stakeholders care about, and one way you should avoid using AI.

What Is the “WOW Factor”?

The WOW Factor essentially means going beyond basic role requirements to be an adaptable, resourceful, positive, well-prepared team player who the CAE values highly and sees as a future leader. 

As Agnessa and Robert summarized, these are the “people you can’t afford to lose” and will miss when they’re not around. 

In other words, the WOW Factor isn’t just about skills. It’s about the mix of personality, proactiveness, professionalism, positivity, and expertise that you bring to the table.

The Top Five Ways to WOW Your CAE

Robert and Agnessa surveyed CAEs across industries to define the WOW Factor. They also conducted research on leadership, development, corporate culture, critical thinking, AI, and other topics. 

In overview:

1. Be proactive. Raise your hand. Be transparent about constraints and availability. Be ready to explain your ideas in a logical, positive way aimed at helping your team produce a high-quality product. And as Agnessa advised, when bringing your CAE a question, arrive with “half of the answer. That shows they have the ability to think for themselves, critically evaluate the situation, and go the extra mile.”
2. Build trust with stakeholders. Be professional, credible, and consistent, “saying what you will do and doing what you say.” Show enthusiasm and focus, sharing an agenda and arriving with well-thought-out questions — and no surprises. Speak their language. Ask better questions. 
3. Create robust reports and thoughtful written communications. Start by understanding where the value lies for stakeholders. Why should they care? What insights do you want them to take away? Then, as Agnessa explained, be “impeccable with your word” by telling a “specific, precise, concise, direct, and accurate” story conveying that value. 
4. Support a healthy team culture. Be the “glue” that helps your team build and sustain a healthy culture. Know and live your team’s values. Be courageous, humble, vulnerable, accountable, and aware of how you’re showing up. “Attitude is contagious, without a doubt,” said Robert.
5. Know audit and other technology cold. While surveyed CAEs ranked this skill the lowest of the five, it’s nonetheless crucial. Help your team make the most of its technologies (e.g., cheat sheets, best practices, lunch-and-learns, innovation efforts, 1:1 mentoring, peer training).

4 Key Takeaways on the Soft Skills That Matter Most

1. Understand What CAEs Really Hire For

A good CAE approaches hiring with a long-term perspective. As Robert explained, instead of focusing solely on whether candidates fit near-term requirements, they’re assessing, “How could this person help this organization — here in audit or elsewhere — in the next three to five years?”

Sure, you need the certifications, previous experience, Internal Audit and business acumen, technical skills, and technological aptitude the role requires. 

But you also need to look like a good longer-term fit for the team and company culture. That’s why the CAEs Robert and Agnessa surveyed also prioritized soft skills like:

• Curiosity — Get curious, asking questions to identify how your team can increase its impact. Think through processes and solutions more holistically.  
• Emotional intelligence (EQ) — See your CAE, colleagues, and audit customers as human beings. Be authentic and empathetic. Understand their pressures. Talk about more than audit results. Consider how to better communicate Internal Audit’s value proposition. 
• Being solution-focused and action-oriented — Identify and address problems worth solving, and deliver on commitments. Help your team improve their audit and technology skills. Translate audit requirements into actionable insights. 
• Client focus — Establish trust, gain context, and deliver more value by building real relationships with stakeholders. Simple conversations are an everyday opportunity. 
• Critical thinking — Go deeper on research, review, analysis, and considering alternative perspectives and potential blind spots. Said Robert, “Critical thinking serves as your truth filter to help you question and evaluate the information. Is it reliable? Is it relevant? And is it valid?” 

But don’t stop there. Surveyed CAEs also sought adaptability, coachability, a growth mindset, analytical and communication skills, thoroughness, problem solving, and other key soft skills. 

As Robert pointed out, “If you have a lot of these skills, you’re going to help your career — and you’re going to help improve the organization.”

2. Ask More Strategic Questions — Not “What Keeps You Up?”

Every question we ask is an opportunity to showcase all of the above skills.  

However, auditors have long asked stakeholders some form of the same question: “What keeps you up at night?” The goal is narrowing in on the risks, issues, and priorities that matter most to them. 

But as Agnessa shared, this question may not make the impression we’re hoping for.

She recently talked with a CFO who said that when an auditor asks, “What keeps you up at night?”, he immediately perceives it as the auditor not being prepared for the conversation.

Auditors want to show up as thoughtful, strategic professionals who have spent time understanding what matters to the business — and who stakeholders can trust not to waste their valuable time.

That’s why Robert and Agnessa recommend asking more strategic and tactical questions such as:

• What needs to go right in your area for you to meet your goals/objectives? 
• Where do you get your data? Do you trust it?
• What are the biggest interdependencies with other departments that can prevent you from meeting your goals/objectives?
• If you oversaw our organization, what one major change would you make and why?

As Robert explained, the goal is moving away from “the old-school checklist-type auditing” toward more creative, strategic, free-flowing conversations focused on stakeholders’ key problems, decisions, goals, and objectives. 

3. Tell a Story They Actually Care About

Similarly, audit reports and written communications should help CAEs and other stakeholders walk away with clear insights that genuinely matter to them. 

It doesn’t always work out that way.

Our reporting can be wordy, long, technical, and granular, overwhelming readers with background and observations and diluting the story we’re trying to tell. Key messages can end up lost or muddled. 

Agnessa asked, “As auditors, I think we're often too eager to take credit for the work we've done, or the difficulty in reaching our conclusion. But is that where the value lies for our stakeholders?”

Nope. And that’s exactly why we need to do a better job of making their needs central. 

Robert and Agnessa advised:

• Know your audience, and review/revise reports to answer, “Why should they care?” Agnessa suggested, “Walk away from it. Take a beat, read it again, and try to discern: Did you convey to your readers not just what you did, but why they should care about your outcomes?” 
• Tell a clear, easy-to-follow story that anticipates likely questions. Check for flow and readability. Avoid redundancies. Provide an appropriate detail level. Said Agnessa, “Think one or two levels ahead of your CAE. If they know nothing about the subject, will they walk away with the right amount of knowledge? Anticipate their questions.”
• Use language they understand. Avoid unfamiliar acronyms, frameworks, or technical jargon. If providing ratings, make sure they’re easily understandable (e.g., green-yellow-red color coding). 
• Consider a stakeholder survey. Understand how reports are read and used. A survey can help you tailor them to better meet stakeholders’ needs and preferences. 

Want more guidance on improving audit reporting? Learn from Charlie Page’s success.

4. Don’t Use AI in Ways That Waste CAE’s Time

Everyone talks about how AI saves time, and many teams have successfully used AI to help with reporting. But in some cases, using AI can actually end up wasting your CAE’s time.

Most of us have heard of AI “workslop.” But we assume they’re not talking about our AI work products.  

That’s a dangerous assumption. 

Because as Agnessa and Robert cautioned, your CAEs can tell when you used AI — and sometimes, they really wish you hadn’t.

“While using AI can add efficiency, it can also create a lot of frustration,” said Agnessa. When used without significant input and review by humans, “It’s a lot of fancy words… and there’s no substance or meaning behind those words. It’s not a good use of our time to rewrite it or to discern, ‘What is real versus what is AI’? But what’s more important is that it takes away from the credibility of your future work and undermines our ability to trust your product in the future.” 

Certainly, Internal Audit should be using AI to innovate its processes. But it’s important to be thoughtful about when and how you use AI.

That’s why Robert and Agnessa recommended writing your first draft yourself, ensuring you’ve accounted for CAE and organizational preferences. Then, said Robert, you can run it through AI for a first-level review, ask questions, and guide the improvements you’re looking for (e.g., tone, length, audience, structure). 

THE LAST WORD: The Collective Is All About the WOW Factor

As the links in this article illustrate, there is a resource focused on helping auditors develop these WOW Factor skills. 

These are skills that the Internal Audit Collective’s 1,250+ members are talking about — and helping each other with. 

In fact, the Internal Audit Collective’s new Connect program helps members match and meet 1:1 with new peers (filtered by team size, industry, etc.) on a monthly basis. It’s professional networking taken to the next level, helping our supportive community of practice better meet members’ individual needs. 

The 200+ participants in the first program started meeting their matches this week. If you’re not one of them, keep an eye out for the next program.

And if you haven’t already joined the Internal Audit Collective? Sign up today. 

‍