The auditor of the future: people-oriented and data-driven
“The bank changes, and we auditors change with it. Not simply doing what is said, but taking the initiative yourself, making the difference yourself. We think it is important that our colleagues look for new ways to arrive at valuable findings.”
Rudi Kleijwegt has been Chief Audit at Rabobank since 2016. According to him, the auditor of the future is someone who uses innovative technologies and knows how to make an impact with them. “You can interpret data and transfer your findings to colleagues and management. Even if the message is less pleasant.”
Research culture and strategy in the organization
“NextGen Audit is a program that prepares us for the future of our field. We take the next step in our technology, processes and methods, and people’s personal and professional development. We develop the most modern audit methods, such as process- and text mining. This enables us to make relevant observations about what is happening within the bank.”
“Our auditors look at more than just data and processes. We also look at the behaviour of the people in our organization. For this, we use the Culture and Behavior framework. We use this to conduct research based on, among other things, questionnaires and interviews. Part of the research is how employees address each other. Both with compliments and with feedback. Our auditor of the future also looks closely at the organization’s strategy.”
The areas of expertise in Audit
“We have four important domains within Rabobank. First of all, that is the Business domain. These include, for example, the bank’s activities in payment transactions, insurance, assets, customer service and financing. The second domain is KYC & Compliance. An important area for us here is that you audit all activities related to KYC and compliance, as well as HR and Legal. IT, Data & Innovation are the third domain. Here you focus on work related to technology, architecture and hardware. The fourth domain is Risk. You then work broadly in the field of credit, finance, models and general risk management.”
A nice working environment
“With Agile@Audit methodology, we put together our audit teams in an agile way. We have cross-functional teams that are responsible for their part of Rabobank. This decentralized way of working allows us to adapt to the rapidly changing world in and around the bank.”
“I believe in the added value of a diversely composed audit team. We have colleagues with extensive work experience as auditors or accountants, such as RA or RE training. We also have colleagues from different backgrounds, such as sociology or philosophy. Many of our auditors have gained expertise in the company or the risk or compliance organization.”
“Within Rabobank, we work with the principles of Rabo@anywhere. This means that we have great flexibility when working independently of time and place. We divide our workweek to work from home, from one of Rabobank’s central offices, and sometimes from a local office nearby.”
You make the difference
“We work at one of the largest audit departments in the Netherlands. That makes the work challenging, and the colleagues deliver high-quality work together. In combination with the pleasant working atmosphere, this makes it a truly unique workplace for me.”