A Peer’s Perspective on

Rotational Programs
February 2010

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DISCLAIMER
Copyright © 2010 by The Institute of Internal Auditors located at 247 Maitland Avenue, Altamonte Springs,
FL 32701, U.S.A. All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America.

Except for the purposes intended by this publication, readers of this document may not reproduce,
redistribute, display, rent, lend, resell, commercially exploit, or adapt the statistical and other data contained
herein without the permission of The IIA.

The information included in this document is general in nature and is not intended to address any particular
individual, internal audit activity, or organization. The objective of this document is to share tools,
resources, information, and/or other knowledge that is accurate, unbiased, and timely. However, based on
the date of issuance and changing environments, no individual, internal audit activity, or organization
should act on the information provided in this document without appropriate consultation or examination.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... 1

Rotational Program No. 1: The Coca-Cola Co. ................................................................................ 4

Snapshot of Coca-Cola‟s Rotational Program .............................................................................. 4
Benefits of the Program................................................................................................................ 5
Challenges ................................................................................................................................... 5
Recommendations for Success .................................................................................................... 6

Rotational Program No. 2: The Home Depot .................................................................................... 7

Snapshot of The Home Depot‟s Rotational Program.................................................................... 7
Benefits ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Challenges ................................................................................................................................... 8
Recommendations for Success .................................................................................................... 8

Rotational Program No. 3: General Electric Co. ............................................................................. 10

Snapshot of GE‟s Rotational Program ........................................................................................ 10
Challenges ................................................................................................................................. 11
Benefits ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Recommendations for Success .................................................................................................. 12

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In October 2009, The IIA asked chief audit
executives (CAEs) to provide information on the Interviewees for This Peer’s Perspective
staffing and sourcing of their internal audit activities,1
including the use of rotational programs (i.e., hiring Connie McDaniel
Vice President and Chief of Internal Audit
internal auditors into internal auditing or rotating Corporate Audit Department
them from the business for a specified time, after Company: Coca-Cola Co.
which the employees rotate out of the internal audit Tenure in current position: Since August 2009
activity and into other business units or functions). Years working with the company: 20 years
Size of internal audit activity: 140 domestic,
Although 69 percent of CAEs indicated that their regional, and international internal auditors
internal audit activity has a staffing model consisting Industry: Food and beverage
of career internal auditors only, nearly one-third
(31 percent) stated they have a rotational model in Kelly Barrett
Vice President
place consisting of a blend between career internal Internal Audit and Corporate Compliance Department
auditors and rotational positions (28 percent) or Company: The Home Depot
rotational positions only (3 percent). (Read Tenure in current position: 4 years
“Snapshot of CAE Responses to October 2009 Years working with the company: 7 years
Size of internal audit activity: 60 internal auditors
Survey” on page 2 for more information.) Industry: Home improvement retailer

In addition, a February 2009 blog by IIA President Brian Worrell

and CEO Richard Chambers, CIA, CGAP, CCSA, Vice President
GE Corporate Audit
discusses the benefits and challenges of having a Company: GE
rotational model for the CAE and internal audit Tenure in current position: 4 years
activity as well as safeguards to minimize the risks Years working with the company: 18 years
associated with such a model.2 According to Size of internal audit activity: approximately 750
global internal auditors
Chambers, CAEs who are rotated into their role from Industry: Manufacturing and Financial Services
other areas of the organization bring a tremendous
level of energy and enthusiasm to the role and a
fresh and innovative perspective to such fundamental tasks as risk assessment and internal audit planning.

On the other hand, despite the many positive aspects of the rotational model, there are clear drawbacks.
The most obvious drawback, Chambers explains, relates to the actual or perceived objectivity of CAEs who
are scheduled to spend a short tenure (i.e., less than three years) in an internal audit leadership role as
many of these executives often are from the finance area of the organization — with a clear expectation
of returning there after serving as the CAE. The rotation‟s brief duration might also make it difficult for the
CAE to achieve the level of effectiveness that often comes with tenure in a senior executive position.
Furthermore, if the entire internal audit activity is part of the rotational model, including the CAE, there is a

1
Recent Impacts on the Staffing and Sourcing of North American Internal Audit Activities (PDF, 820 KB); a total of 817 members of The IIA’s
GAIN Flash Survey Network participated in the survey: 22 participants work in Fortune 100 companies, 129 work in Fortune 500 companies,
and 195 work in Fortune 1,000 companies. In addition, 39 percent of all the organizations represented in the survey have revenue sizes of
US $1 billion to US $10 billion; 20 percent are located in the financial services, banking, and real estate industry; and 94 percent are based in
North America.
2
February 2009 blog featured on Chambers on the Profession: “The Rotational Model: Is It Good for Internal Auditing?”

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significant challenge in accumulating the institutional knowledge of the company‟s risk and controls that an
effective internal audit activity needs.

To minimize these risks, Chambers offers five recommendations. As Chambers explains:

1. The audit committee should understand the advantages, disadvantages, and risks of the rotational
model, and be engaged in the selection and evaluation of the CAE.
2. The audit committee should pay particular attention to risk assessment results and audit coverage
of the area from which the individual is drawn and/or will be placed into at the end of the rotation.
3. If possible, the CAE should have an administrative reporting relationship outside of the area from
which he or she is drawn and/or will be placed into once the rotation period ends.
4. The terms of the rotation should preclude the individual from returning to the same functional area
from which he or she is drawn.
5. The rotation should be at least a five-year assignment. The longer the individual is expected to
serve as the CAE, the lower the perceived risk of objectivity impairment.

Snapshot of CAE Responses to October 2009 Survey

CAEs who indicated they use a rotational model (31 percent) also were asked to identify the source of
professionals rotating into internal auditing, the length of the rotation, and the opportunity for advancement
within the internal audit activity at the end of the rotation. According to survey results:

64 percent of all CAEs stated that their internal audit activity consists of internal auditors recruited from
business units within the organization.
60 percent of CAEs recruit candidates from other companies.
54 percent of CAEs recruit staff from public accounting firms.
31 percent of CAEs recruit staff from colleges and universities.
32 percent stated that three years is the typical length of a staff rotation followed by two years
(30 percent), and between three and five years (28 percent).
59 percent of CAEs indicated that internal auditors are sometimes offered the opportunity to assume
an audit manager position at the conclusion of their rotation.
36 percent of all internal audit activities rotate all staff except the CAE.
30 percent of all internal audit activities rotate all staff.
22 percent of all internal audit activities rotate all positions except managers and the CAE.

Source: Recent Impacts on the Staffing and Sourcing of North American Internal Audit Activities (PDF, 820 KB)

To obtain more specific information on the subject, The IIA interviewed three CAEs from Fortune 100
companies regarding the use of rotational programs for their internal audit activity. These CAEs agree that
the use of the rotational program over a more traditional staffing model has greatly enhanced the skill sets
available to the internal audit activity, positioned the internal audit activity as a talent agent for the
organization, and provided internal auditors with career opportunities to continue expanding their
professional horizons.

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Five common themes were discussed by each CAE pertaining to their rotational program. These are:

The rotational program is seen as a key source of talent for the rest of the organization due to the
high-caliber of all staff rotating out of the internal audit activity and their overall business acumen.
The rotational programs were created out of a need to recruit highly skilled staff as well as train
employees to become future business leaders.
Internal audit positions are rotated regardless of staff level. This allows for an influx of new skills
and talent every year into the internal audit activity. Although the CAE position is currently not
rotated in two of the three companies, it will be in the future.
New internal auditors have an average minimum of three years of audit experience or two to three
years of general professional experience upon hiring.
Rotations last anywhere from two to three years. However, regardless of the rotational period‟s
duration, employees undergo an extensive training period where they learn about all aspects of the
organization and are provided with hands-on experience as early as possible. This ensures new
internal auditors add value to the internal audit activity as quickly as possible.
The main obstacle pertains to ensuring the continuity of the internal audit activity. To this end, only
approximately one-third of all positions are rotated into the organization or into other positions
within the internal audit activity during any rotational period.

Following is a snapshot of each company‟s rotational program. CAEs looking to implement a similar staffing
model for their internal audit activity can greatly benefit from the recommendations provided in this Peer‟s
Perspective.

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ROTATIONAL PROGRAM NO. 1:
THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
Snapshot of Coca-Cola’s Rotational Program
The Coca-Cola Co.‟s internal audit activity
consists of 140 domestic, regional, and
international internal auditors. Currently, the
company has 35 internal auditors who work in
North America, 80 who work in the company‟s
regional offices (i.e., locations outside North
America where Coca-Cola has a bottling center),
and 25 who work internationally covering
200 countries. Expertise covered by internal audit
staff includes IT, code of conduct, and finance.
“The program started in the early 1980s. Prior to
that, we had a traditional audit department with
career auditors,” explains Connie McDaniel,
Coca-Cola‟s vice president and chief of internal
audit. “Therefore, the main focus of the rotational
program was to modernize the internal audit
activity and expand their skill level.”
Coca-Cola‟s internal audit rotational program is
for all staff levels. Depending on the position (i.e.,
staff, manager, or director), applicants must have
anywhere from three to seven years of
experience to be considered. Once they are
hired, internal auditors are asked for a
commitment of three years, after which they are
rotated out into the business. Although the
company goes through periods in which staff
might stay an extra year or leave after two years,
in general, the rotation ends after the third year.
“We generally don‟t have career internal auditors.
However, at the manager and director level, the
rotation might extend for more than three years
depending on the person and the needs of the
organization at the time,” says McDaniel. “Some
of our managers have stayed with the
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department for up to seven years or more. In
addition, directors rotate but not as frequently
and some of our IT auditors have been in the role
longer due to the expertise needed and the
difficulty in finding qualified auditors with
technology experience.”
Although the company does hire internally, the
majority (approximately 95 percent) of the
recruiting is done externally. Internal candidates
usually rotate out of the internal audit activity
after two years as they already have knowledge
in and experience working for the company. At
the end of their rotation, they are often placed in
a department or location different from the one
they were hired.
“When recruiting internally, we usually hire
employees from the finance and business areas
of the organization,” says McDaniel. “Typically,
these are employees who have expressed an
interest to go into internal auditing and are
looking for a professional developmental
opportunity with the organization.”
Although internal auditors have been promoted to
audit management positions at the end of their
rotation, this is not the norm. However, some
internal auditors have returned to the internal
audit activity as managers or directors after
working in different business functions.
Benefits of the Program
Coca-Cola‟s rotational program is seen as a key
source of talent for the organization. Because of
the work they do, internal auditors have
experience in various aspects of the
organization, which proves beneficial as they
rotate out into other business areas. Leadership
positions held by former internal auditors include
that of chief financial officer, division vice
president, and controller.
“We hire auditors who are interested in the
nature of our global business and are interested
in traveling,” says McDaniel. “To date, we‟ve had
little trouble attracting and placing talent since
our auditors are some of the most sought-after
employees in the organization.”
Challenges
According to McDaniel, funding of the
international audit program is under ongoing
pressure due to the high travel costs. However,
the benefits of the program continue to outweigh
the cost.
Keeping the continuity of the internal audit
activity is somewhat of a challenge as well.
To ensure the internal audit activity continues to
perform its work in a smooth fashion, only one-
third of the entire staff is rotated out every year.
This also means anywhere from 10 to 20
employees are hired each year into the program.
“We have a robust staffing and onboarding
approach, in which we identify and hire talent,
then place each new hire in our staff onboarding
program, which lasts two to three weeks,” she
explains.
As part of the ongoing staff development
program, new internal auditors are required to
complete certain courses every year and are
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assigned to report to a development manager. In
addition, new auditors work on different audits
throughout the year, which enables the
development manager to obtain direct feedback
on every audit performed by the new hire.
Additionally, each project is managed by an audit
lead who is an experienced auditor working on
that particular project. Therefore, new hires learn
by working with each lead, which enables them
to develop into audit leads in the future.
“Because the rotation ends in three years, our
goal is to ensure internal auditors learn as quickly
as possible so that they are ready to expand their
knowledge in other areas of the organization by
the end of the rotation,” says McDaniel.
“Therefore, we have found that new auditors
learn best by doing, supported by targeted
training.”
Furthermore, the department has to ensure all
internal auditors who are rotating out of the
department find a suitable position in the
organization. As a result, time is devoted to
marketing each employee to prospective
business leaders.
“We help internal auditors rotate out of the
department by producing a résumé book every
year containing a description of their skills and
experience. In addition, we have ongoing
discussions with managers and directors from
other business functions regarding which
candidates they would like to hire into their
department,” says McDaniel.
Recommendations for Success
To ensure the rotational program‟s success,
McDaniel recommends that CAEs consider their
entire staffing and people development strategy.
To this end, questions CAEs need to answer
include:
At what level will you bring in staff (e.g.,
will you hire internal auditors directly out
of college or only with professional
experience)?
Do you have training programs to
support the development of new staff? If
so, will training be provided based on the
staff‟s level of experience? “CAEs need
to consider training needs post hire, and
training programs must vary based on
the level you bring staff in,” she explains.
“We have a two-week conference each
year in January that covers current
topics, such as internal audit, accounting,
and fraud issues; IT training; and
personal development. If you hire directly
out of school, you would likely need
much more audit training.”
Do you have other avenues or sources of
talent that the program will compete with
or supplement?
What skill sets does the organization
need, and does the internal audit profile
and training fit these requirements?
What is the rotational program‟s cost-
benefit? “One needs to be comfortable
that the benefit exceeds the cost, as
there is a cost to built-in turnover,”
McDaniel warns. “We have assessed the
cost and benefit of our rotational program
as high on the benefit side, but the
program‟s cost should be explicitly
acknowledged.”
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To hire the right staff, McDaniel recommends the
implementation of a talent acquisition process
that is commensurate with the internal audit
activity‟s and organization‟s staffing needs.
McDaniel uses a robust talent acquisition
process in which they, rather than human
resources, identify potential candidates through a
rigorous screening and interviewing process.
Furthermore, McDaniel uses a disciplined
scheduling approach to ensure internal audit staff
obtain a mix of audits, so they get the broadest
possible experience. “We rotate internal audit
leads so, over time, every staff member has a
chance to lead a variety of internal audits during
their rotation,” she adds.
However, McDaniel retains experienced audit
managers and directors with excellent people
development skills to ensure the internal audit
activity‟s stability and to retain the institutional
knowledge gained by staff. “These managers and
directors do not rotate as often as the other
positions to provide continuity and guidance to
incoming internal audit staff,” she adds.
Finally, Coca Cola‟s internal audit activity also
has a strong performance management system
and culture that provides robust, candid feedback
after each and every audit. As explained earlier,
McDaniel assigns a development manager to
each staff. “After each audit, the audit staff
prepares an evaluation, the audit lead for that
audit prepares the review, and the development
manager reviews and approves the review before
it is finalized by the audit lead with the audit
staff,” she explains.
ROTATIONAL PROGRAM NO. 2:
THE HOME DEPOT
Snapshot of The Home Depot’s
Rotational Program
The Home Depot‟s internal audit rotational
program was established eight years ago.
Currently, the internal audit activity has 60
internal auditors out of 350,000 total employees.
One of the main reasons behind the
establishment of the program was to create a
leadership development program for staff. Prior
to the rotational program, the internal audit
activity consisted of career auditors who
performed store compliance audits only.
“To be considered, internal auditors need to have
three to four years of work experience,” says
Kelly Barrett, The Home Depot‟s vice president of
internal audit and corporate compliance. In terms
of skill sets, Barrett looks for certified public
accountants or people with a finance
background. “In fact, 55 percent of our staff have
a finance background, but we also hire
engineers, consultants, and IT personnel as they
have the same kinds of critical thinking skills and
training in mathematical concepts as associates
with a finance background,” she adds.
Although internal candidates are considered,
most are hired externally. Internal candidates are
selected from all organizational areas, including
those with store experience. Auditors who
previously worked in the stores do well in the
program because they have a lot of working
knowledge about store operations that can be
shared with other associates in the program.
In addition, prospective candidates go through an
extensive assessment program. “We conduct
structured interviews to assess a candidate‟s
critical thinking and presentation skills.
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Candidates also have to do a project report and
business case and present this information to
us,” Barrett adds.
Once the assessment phase is completed and
the auditor is hired, he or she is asked to commit
for two years. This enables staff to obtain the
necessary skills to be promoted into a
managerial position either within or outside the
internal audit activity. To date, the rotational
program has successfully placed internal auditors
in all business areas including finance, HR,
merchandising, operations, and supply chain.
Internal auditors who choose to stay as part of
the internal audit activity have to make an
additional two-year commitment. Currently, the
CAE position is not rotated.
Work-wise, internal audit directors and senior
managers are aligned with a specific functional
area and provide services to that area. Audit
project cycles typically last three months. During
the two-year rotation, audit managers and staff
are rotated each quarter to a different area —
finance and shared services, IT, merchandising,
international, operations, supply chain, and
marketing. Therefore, new auditors complete a
total of eight rotations during their two-year
commitment, rotating twice into one area. “We try
our best to schedule the associate‟s last rotation
in the business area that they want to be placed
into when they move out of the department,” says
Barrett.
“Our goal is for internal auditors to understand
every aspect of the business. This is what makes
our staff valuable to the organization and what
makes our department valuable to the business,”
Barrett explains. “In addition, our auditors
perform a lot of business process improvement
program audits, so they develop strong
knowledge about the business area they work in
as well as ways to improve it.”
Benefits
Due to the project life cycle‟s quarterly nature,
internal auditors obtain an in-depth
understanding of how the organization works.
“When you work on projects in both store
operations and merchandising you understand a
lot about how the company works as well since
these two areas are interconnected,” says
Barrett. Therefore, by the time an internal
auditor‟s two-year rotation ends, he or she
understands how the entire business operates
and the big-picture ramifications of
organizationwide initiatives.
Challenges
Each year, Barrett‟s group places approximately
24 employees into the organization at large.
Consequently, one of the main challenges of the
rotational program is ensuring internal auditors
find the right position at the end of the two-year
commitment. However, the high quality of internal
audit staff has enabled auditors to find suitable
career opportunities within the organization.
According to Barrett, because The Home Depot
is a larger company, there are more opportunities
for auditors to find the right position once a
rotation is over. “This is one of the reasons why a
smaller organization might not benefit from a
rotational model like The Home Depot‟s,”
explains Barrett.
Another challenge is ensuring internal auditors
have the right skills to be placed into positions
outside the internal audit activity at the end of
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their rotation. “We are committed to generating
high-caliber employees. Otherwise, other
business functions will not look to us as a source
of quality staff who are knowledgeable in all
aspects of the organization,” she says. “In other
words, we need to ensure we maintain a pull
rather than a push from other business leaders
by creating valuable associates.”
One final obstacle is ensuring the continuity of
the internal audit activity by keeping the
experience and knowledge internal auditors
obtain or develop while participating in the
program. As a result, Barrett performs a lot of
work with succession planning to figure out which
internal auditors will be promoted into audit
manager, senior manager, and director positions.
“Overall, the main goal is to keep experienced
auditors who are knowledgeable about the
organization in the program so they, in turn, train
new auditors,” she adds. The department also
stores everything electronically to facilitate
document archiving and retrieval as well as the
transfer of knowledge from one auditor
generation to the next.
Recommendations for Success
Prior to implementing a rotational program,
Barrett recommends that CAEs consider the
different areas within the organization where staff
can be placed into after they finish the program
and whether there will be enough jobs that
routinely become available. Given the nature of
the rotational program, CAEs also need to
consider how to ensure the internal audit
activity‟s continuity by finding a way to retain the
institutional knowledge internal auditors gain
during their tenure as well as determining what
level of employees are needed to run the internal
audit activity successfully. One way to do this is
by promoting internal auditors to management
positions. If this is the case, CAEs need to
determine how promotions will work within the
rotational program (e.g., how long will employees
have to commit to the program once they get
promoted). At The Home Depot, the commitment
is two years at every promotion to manager,
senior manager, and director.

Training is also a key program element and is

essential for the rotational program‟s success.
“You also need a great training program to
ensure internal auditors have the tools they need
to perform their work effectively.” In addition to
technical audit training, the training program
includes professional development, feedback,
and coaching processes and activities.

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ROTATIONAL PROGRAM NO. 3:
GENERAL ELECTRIC (GE) CO.
Snapshot of GE’s Rotational Program
GE‟s Corporate Audit department is based in
Fairfield, Conn. The company‟s internal audit
rotational program was implemented in the early
1910s and serves as a leadership development
and training program for the company and the
internal audit activity. Currently, 430 internal
auditors are part of the rotational program out
of which 100 to 150 auditors are hired on a
yearly basis and are rotated out every two
years. If hired internally, candidates must have
a minimum of two years of experience with
the company.
Internal candidates make up 95 percent of the
new hires for the internal audit activity‟s rotational
program. Sixty percent of all new hires come
from the organization‟s entry-level training
programs from departments such as finance,
IT, engineering, sales, and marketing. Before
anyone is able to join the internal audit activity,
the internal candidate‟s business unit finance
leader must make a recommendation. Once the
interview process is over, candidates go through
a one-month trial to decide if they like the team
and vice versa. Approximately 75 percent of all
candidates make it through the one-month trial.
New internal auditors start out as associates
who travel 100 percent of the time to different
locations around the world. After two years,
auditors are either promoted to audit manager or
go back into a business. Audit managers also
travel 100 percent of the time and rotations last a
year. At the end of the rotation, audit managers
can either stay as members of the internal audit
activity for an additional year as senior managers
who specialize in a business segment or go out
into a business.
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Once the senior manager rotation is over,
auditors are eligible to be promoted to executive
audit manager or become an executive at a
different business unit. Executive audit manager
rotations last 18 months to two years. Auditors at
this level become audit experts in a particular
segment, geographic location, or process such
as compliance. “At the end of the executive audit
manager rotation, the person has a total of seven
years of internal audit experience and is at the
executive level in the company,” says Worrell.
“So as you can see, this is a career acceleration
as well as a leadership training program.”
The remaining 300-plus internal auditors work in
the financial services business unit. These
positions do not rotate and are filled with internal
and external candidates. These internal auditors
typically stay in the position for two to three years
in a particular country and then either accept a
leadership role in the organization or seek
employment opportunities in other internal audit
or control areas.
In addition, GE‟s internal audit activity consists of
a nonrotating advisory practice group. Members
of this group have certified public accounting and
internal audit experience and serve as technical
consultants for internal auditors, giving them
assistance on issues, and provide additional
continuity. Advisory group members also have
anywhere from five to 15 years of experience in a
particular area such as revenue recognition,
leasing, IT, or general audit practice. Worrell‟s
audit group also consists of three nonrotating
labor compliance specialists who handle work
visas and scheduling.
To run the rotational program effectively, Worrell
performs an annual gap analysis to determine
the organization‟s audit needs and the technical
skills and competencies needed to be an
effective internal audit and leadership
development program. In addition to control-
based audits, Worrell‟s group conducts reviews
pertaining to U.S. Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles, compliance, and process
improvement. Audit work is structured on a
trimester basis so that internal auditors are
working in one area for four months. However,
anywhere from one to six audits can be
completed during this timeframe. At the end of
each trimester, the entire internal audit activity
gets together for formal training sessions and
business updates.
Challenges
“One of the biggest obstacles we‟ve had to
address is the continuity of the internal audit
activity at a business level to ensure we are not
losing risk and control coverage,” says Worrell.
To address this, Worrell makes sure those in
leadership positions have at least three years of
experience with the organization, which helps to
ensure the internal audit activity‟s continuity in a
particular business area. Additionally, Worrell is
considering extending the rotation‟s timeframe of
senior managers from one year to 16 months.
Another challenge is continuously improving the
technical training of the internal audit activity.
Currently, internal auditors get a total of six
performance evaluations per year. Information
from each evaluation is used to make sure
internal auditors obtain the necessary skills to
succeed professionally. The training also
changes depending on the staff level. At first, the
training program is more technical in nature and
progresses into more leadership and industry
training toward the end.
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A third challenge is the program‟s operational
cost. “Our rotational model is costly due to the
amount of travel involved, the living expenses of
staff while on travel, and our training program,”
Worrell explains. One way to ensure the
program‟s costs are understood is to continue
producing high-quality staff who will then become
business leaders in addition to demonstrating the
internal audit activity‟s worth through its work.
“GE as a whole has made a huge investment in
our program because the organization has seen
its benefits in terms of the caliber of our audit
work and the high quality of our staff. Our audit
committee believes in our work and process so
much it would not allow us to abandon this
leadership development model.”
The final challenge pertains to the CAE‟s time.
According to Worrell, it takes time to help
regulators understand how the rotational model
and internal audit process works. “Looking at it
from the outside, if you don‟t understand the
process then it‟s hard to believe we are providing
the right internal audit coverage. Therefore, there
is an investment on the CAE‟s time to educate
regulators on how the rotational process works,”
he says.
Benefits
The benefits of GE‟s internal audit rotational
model are two-fold. “Our rotational program is a
source of top talent for the organization through
our robust leadership development and training
activities,” comments Worrell. “Every year, we
hire new auditors who provide a „fresh set of
eyes,‟ looking at business processes and
countries differently without being stuck in a
particular way of doing things. We get the best
and brightest young talent in internal auditing.”
The program‟s continuous source of top talent
also is able to provide new and fresh ideas to the
organization as a whole. Among the company‟s
top 40 leaders, more than a third came from the
internal audit rotational program.
The way the program is structured also enables
Worrell to give internal auditors the type of
training they need to become business or audit
leaders through hands-on experience. “People
are not sitting in an office every day,” he
explains. “As a result, they get more work done,
provide more audit coverage, and get a very
diverse experience.”
New internal auditors also go through an
orientation process lasting two-plus weeks that
brings them up to speed with internal audit topics
such as how to perform an audit, cycle training,
leadership concepts, and internal audit case
studies. Additionally, training is performed three
times per year on the particular areas that they
are auditing.
“Our auditors follow a training curriculum based
on the length of time they‟ve been with the
department, their staff level, and the area or
service they are placed to audit,” says Worrell.
Training is performed internally by the audit
advisory group with help from other GE executive
leaders and is linked to each of the six appraisals
managers perform throughout the year. In
addition, each manager is responsible for
ensuring training opportunities are included in the
auditor‟s goals and objectives.
Recommendations for Success
Worrell has four recommendations for CAEs who
are looking to implement a rotational model for
the first time. First, CAEs need to think about the
output or the internal opportunities that will be
available to internal auditors once the rotation is
over. Second, CAEs need to think about the
value proposition for their organization. “What‟s
the win for the internal audit activity and the
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organization? If you are able to answer this
question you will have an easier time getting the
support you need to get the program up and
running,” says Worrell.
Third, CAEs need to spend time developing the
training program to ensure internal auditors
receive the audit and leadership skills needed to
succeed during their rotation and with the
organization. One way to do this is by performing
a stakeholder analysis of the rotational program.
“Having a robust training program has been a
key success factor for us,” says Worrell. “We
have an extensive feedback and evaluation
process that enables us to understand how each
person and team is performing.” As Worrell
continues to explain, knowing how to put teams
together has enabled him to know where to place
individuals within the internal audit activity, which
consequently helps employees thrive
professionally making them better candidates for
leadership positions within the organization.
Similarly, career acceleration is a fourth factor
CAEs need to keep in mind. To this end, CAEs
need to plan how internal auditors will be
promoted and understand the opportunities that
will be available to them at the end of the
rotation. “Given the amount of sacrifices required
from our staff at a personal level, career
acceleration at the end of each rotation is key,”
says Worrell. “Hence, the rotational program has
to be a win for the individual as well as the
organization.”
Finally, CAEs need to understand that an
effective rotational program takes time. “If you
want to go into a rotational model, you can‟t do it
overnight. You need to make sure you have the
proper business support and robust processes to
get the program up and running. In GE, for
example, it is acceptable to move across the
business, so if it‟s counter to the culture of the
organization for staff to move from business unit
to business unit, the rotational model won‟t work,”
Worrell concludes.

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