Mercedeh Mosavi

Topic

Improving the Skill Development Framework of the Performance Audit and Related Assurance Portfolio for the Office of the Auditor General of BC

School of Public Administration

Date & location

• Friday, April 12, 2024
• 12:00 P.M.
• Virtual Defence

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Prof. Evert Lindquist, School of Public Administration, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Barton Cunningham, School of Public Administration, UVic (Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Justin Leifso, Department of Political Science, UVic

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Kirstin Lane, School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, UVic

Abstract

Professional development and career growth has long been an important aspect of organizational performance, particularly around employee satisfaction and retention (Barnett & Bradley, 2007; Yang & Wang, 2013; Price & Reichert, 2017; Heffernan & Heffernan, 2018). The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) of British Columbia (BC) relies on 32 skilled employees within their Performance Audit and Related Assurance (PARA) portfolio to complete performance audits of over 150 organizations within the Government Reporting Entity of BC. Due to the nature of the PARA’s work and their reliance on experienced staff, employee satisfaction and retention through professional development and career growth are key to the OAG’s success over time.

The OAG is a well-functioning organization currently capable of meeting mandate commitments and delivering audit reports, however, there have been concerns over the years around employee retention and the long-term effects of high employee turnover (OAG 2017; OAG 2018; OAG 2019; OAG 2020). Due to these concerns, the OAG has made efforts to improve employee engagement through career and professional development (OAG 2021; OAG 2022; OAG 2023). This project is one of several initiatives that aim to increase employee engagement and culture and subsequently stabilize organizational capacity to better enable the OAG to continue delivering their mandate commitments.

This master’s project aims to define and improve the state of the OAG’s skill development framework for PARA employees. The project was developed through consideration of the CPA training available for employees of the Financial Audit and Related Services portfolio at the OAG, and the lack of similar training for PARA employees. This report provides several deliverables: a literature review on best practices, a jurisdictional scan with lessons learned and training resources for the client, and options and recommendations developed through an analysis of the organization and research conducted for this project.