Internal Revision/Risk Management

During my annual Time4Feedback interview, I expressed the desire to get to know the Internal Audit/Risk Management department. Then everything happened quite quickly. My supervisor held talks with the Head of Internal Audit. Subsequently, the Executive Board together with Group HR agreed on a 9-month job rotation program (from April-December 2020). 
I was fully involved from the beginning. The Head of Internal Audit, Thorsten Kern, who has since changed positions internally, gave me a free hand and was open to new ideas I brought in. Together, we changed the reporting structure for the top management, successfully implemented the audit plan despite the pandemic, prepared the annual risk report for the Executive Board, and fine-tuned projects in the area of compliance. The highlights of my job rotation were:

  • the audit assignment in Berlin
  • the on-site insight of an RMS company in the field of road marking 
  • as well as the numerous encounters and interesting conversations with a wide variety of business managers

The exciting thing about internal auditing is that you are on site and get to understand the SWARCO business better. In my previous position, I was mainly responsible for Group Accounting. I therefore have a very good understanding of the figures of our subsidiaries. Through Internal Audit, these figures now get more form and content. Combining the knowledge from both departments makes the job particularly interesting.
The job rotation was a win-win situation for both sides. Since the cooperation on both was very good, I was permanently transferred to the Internal Audit/Risk Management department as of January 2021.
I would definitely recommend the job rotation program. It broadens the SWARCO horizon. Not only do you develop professionally, but also personally. Thinking out of the box, sometimes doing things differently, getting to know new colleagues and new perspectives are the quick wins of a job rotation and I can only recommend it to everyone if the opportunity arises to take advantage of it.