The only one in the room: diversity and inclusion at the top of internal audit

My name is Cyndy, and I am a senior internal auditor working for a local authority. But I also carry a multitude of other identities. I am a woman, I am a mother with two children, and I am from a working-class background, with Ghanaian heritage. I also have dyslexia and am a dark-skinned Black person. These characteristics have given me an intersectional perspective of the industry I work in.

As a profession, we recognise the need for greater diversity, so I am sharing my thoughts and personal journey in the hope that my recommendations will mean I will not always be the only one in the room.

I acknowledge that I have benefited from the support of my family and my manager, however success was never assured. I am one of five siblings, first generation British, my Ghanaian-born parents never experienced our school system but wanted me to thrive in it.

In education, my dyslexia was challenging, as it was less understood than it is today. The lack of supporting infrastructure meant I had to retake my GCSEs, spent five years in university instead of three, and took five years to become a Chartered internal auditor rather than two. (Our society’s reliance on exams to prove capability, expertise and subject knowledge, is a conversation for another day.) On the plus side, having dyslexia proved the “perfect disadvantage” when I entered internal audit, because it means that my attention to detail is second to none and I can spot weaknesses and trends that others may not see.

Having been a senior auditor for almost three years and an auditor for five years before this, I have never felt learning opportunities were limited. When studying for my MSc, support and funding was available. I am purposeful regarding progression and development and understand the challenges given my characteristics.

Navigating the world as a Black woman, I am acutely aware of how I present and how I am perceived in order to avoid being stereotyped as aggressive or emotional. This has led to my own imposter syndrome – a feeling that “I do not belong here” or “I am not good enough – however, I believe I am also better able to see the faults within systems that may cause them to fail to account for an anomaly, because as a Black woman I am an anomaly in a system that was not designed with me in mind. I am therefore used to identifying a fault line and tailoring a solution for myself. Therein lies the value of difference.

Working for a local authority can present career development challenges, as you are rarely able to progress into a senior role unless someone leaves, budgets increase, or the team is re-structured. I had my second child early in my audit career and this can also delay women’s careers. (The careers of those with caring responsibilities, who take maternity leave or who have a difficult menopause is another important conversation for another occasion.)

When I discussed my career aspirations with my manager, I was advised to act up to demonstrate my suitability for a senior position. I was given opportunities to do so, managing our apprentices, participating in audit planning and strategic elements of internal audit and was invited to attend important meetings.

So, what is the problem?

I have attended many internal audit events over the years and there is generally a good level of diversity in terms of race and gender at these meetings. However, the more senior the meeting, the less diverse it becomes. I attended a meeting for heads of service and chief audit executives (CAEs) and I was the only Black woman present. When the one Black man on the panel left the meeting, I was the only Black person present.

This was the first time I had stepped outside my bubble of networking with junior members of staff and it made me wonder whether audit manager may be my limit. There was no one who looked like me – and one person thought I was one of the caterers. When I attended another meeting for senior staff, I was again the only Black woman in the room. I am not a CAE and, although I have been given the opportunity to be present at senior meetings, does this suggest I am a temporary guest and should never see myself as a permanent fixture? Am I a visitor on a visa, which will at some point expire?

After this meeting, I asked senior level internal auditors about diversity and, as I suspected, the further you progress the less diverse our profession becomes. Ask yourself, do you know any Black female CAEs? If so, how many? Compare this with the number of white female CAEs you know. It made me wonder whether someone like me can become a CAE. How many Black female CAEs are there – or is audit manager as far as we can go? If this is the case, why and what can we do to change it? Are we limiting ourselves with imposter syndrome or are many of the ethnically diverse junior internal auditors I have met not given the chances or opportunities for promotion?

We can ask for support and opportunities to move out of our comfort zones, but I am a confident person and before I joined my current employer I suffered from what we now call “misogynoir” (prejudice and sexism towards Black women) – it was always “You’re smart, for a Black girl…” or “you’ve progressed well, for a Black girl…”. I began to feel I was always just good enough “for a Black girl” and I prepared myself for that response by becoming more cautious about putting myself out there or asking for support. This caution can be unlearned, but it requires people to understand that reality. Managers need to be aware that previous negative experiences leave scars and influence current behaviour.

Some recommendations.

Create inclusive processes

To encourage Black women and other marginalised groups to aspire for leadership roles, organisations need to consciously create an environment where Black women (and other minority groups) are able to excel. This requires effort from leaders throughout the organisation. Practices and processes designed with men in mind need to change to take account of women’s wellbeing, lifestyles and responsibilities. Biases in recruitment, talent management appraisals and compensation decisions need to be addressed. On the other side, Black women and those in other marginalised groups need to seize opportunities where they are offered and ask for them
where they are not. We can call out barriers where we see them, but also make our abilities better known by, for example, volunteering to take on a task that stretches us, or deputise for an absent manager.

Support high-performing Black women

The Chartered IIA could provide “Stretch opportunities” and encourage other organisations to do the same to ensure that Black women can develop their careers. A chance to “act up” and perform their line manager’s role helps women to gain skills, confidence and experiences that will help them to reach the next career level. This requires trust from line managers who must delegate some of their duties.

Mentoring/sponsorship

Business should consider providing a sponsor/mentor for women entering the workforce with extra consideration for disenfranchised groups of women. A senior mentor can support junior colleagues and influence senior colleagues to support sponsorship/mentoring. This can be promoted via networking events with mentors. The institute’s Women in Internal Audit network (WIIA) already exists to support women in their careers and its new Race and Ethnicity Community should provide further opportunities.

Training

There needs to be targeted training which includes sessions on how to become a female leader within internal audit – and at prices that enable women from less affluent backgrounds, or who do not have funding support from their employer, to attend.

I am still early in my career and I know it will take time for me to progress to being a CAE. Nevertheless, I want to advance this discussion. There are many Black women who are further ahead in their journey and succession planning needs to start happening now with women of colour who are already audit managers. I want to be inspired by their progress, so I can then inspire the next generation of Black female internal auditors, so my daughter is no longer the only one in the room. 

Leadership – The Chartered IIA Race  and Ethnicity Community

The Chartered IIA is establishing an Internal Audit Race and Ethnicity Community as a safe space for those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds (and their allies) to discuss their unique career-related challenges, barriers and experiences, and to get support from their peers. The aim is to equip people from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds with the skills, techniques, confidence and
peer-to-peer support they need to overcome barriers and reach their full potential.

Key aims:

1 Provide a safe space for others to freely discuss their experience and learn about techniques and approaches that have worked for others to deal with and overcome race-related biases, misconceptions or issues in the workplace eg, micro-aggression, unconscious bias, etc. 

2 Equip, enable, empower and encourage internal auditors from a racially and ethnically diverse background to progress in their careers or overcome obstacles/barriers.

3 Provide opportunities for networking and mentoring.

4 Equip members of the community with the leadership skills they need to thrive and progress into more senior leadership roles. Enable and support the growth of ethnic minority candidates in leadership roles. Help to ensure a truly diverse and inclusive internal audit profession of the future.

5 Celebrate the diversity of the profession with recognition of important events for each community – eg, Black History Month and South Asian Heritage Month.

6 Boost the voices of internal auditors from a racially and ethnically diverse background. 

Cyndy Nkyi-Acheampong CMIIA is senior auditor at  The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

This article was published in March 2023.