Jennifer Kennedy (jenniferkennedy@barberinstitute.org) is Vice President, Governance, Risk Management & Compliance at Barber National Institute in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA.
Internal auditors tend to get a bad rap. They’re seen as adversaries who are there to find all your mistakes, report them up the chain, and then walk away, leaving you with more work than you had when they arrived. They’re seen as the tattletales of the organization, as the pickiest of nitpickers who don’t know what you do, how you do it, or how busy you (and your staff) really are.