How time, training and trust elevates people to the highest standards and highest levels.
Across NFU Mutual, we have so many experts in all aspects of our business. We spent some time with Nick Johnson, Senior IT Auditor in our Internal Audit team, and discovered a fascinating story of development, passion, progression and specialism. Nick is a great example of aiming to be the very best you can be.
How long have you been with NFU Mutual, and in what capacity?
I started off ten years ago on the IT service desk, focused on basic technical incident management. I then moved to the Access team because it's something I had an interest in, and I gained a lot more knowledge there. I was then successful in securing a new role in the IT Risk & Controls team, which fed my interest in governance. This experience naturally paved the way for my transition to the Internal Audit team five years ago.
I think that’s the beauty of NFU Mutual. I’ve seen so many people start in one function and move across to others. And Internal Audit is a team of great people with so many different backgrounds and skill sets.
How have you seen Internal Audit change over the last five years?
Yes, massively, there’s been a huge shift. We’ve really focused on building strong relationships with people across NFU Mutual and that’s working really well. We’re starting to see people coming to us more and more, rather than us going out to the business. We’ll always have a planned series of audits throughout the year, these are agreed by the Board and they look at the risks and controls of areas of the business that need support, but equally, we’re seeing a shift in colleague mentality. They’re starting to realise that we can help in so many ways. Whatever the challenge they face, they’re starting to turn to us more and more for a different perspective to their challenges.
Do people across NFU Mutual have any concerns when they see ‘Internal Audit’ in their calendar?
I think they might have done in the past, but we’ve worked so hard to educate people and build confidence in the value we add, and the way we work. We know that the word ‘audit’ is one of those words that has been misunderstood culturally. Think about how it’s presented on the news and on TV, and it can come with a negative connotation – but it’s not about catching people out or rapping the knuckles. It’s about protection and making sure things are as good as they can be.
We’ve got people who’ve come here from the Big 4, the external side of audit, but we’ve also got people who have come from all across the business, including data analysis and IT, and people coming fresh into work from university. What we’ve all got in common is a great way with people. That understanding, empathy and respect that’s needed to help colleagues across NFU Mutual to see us as ‘value-add’ rather than ‘scrutiny’. Nick Turner, our Chief Executive, is very ‘audit-positive’ and I think that’s helping to cascade the message that we can offer so much more to our colleagues across the business.
What do you look forward to most about your job?
I like that we aren’t just locked down to spending all our time working on our own individual projects. For me, it’s a real positive that we have the flexibility to liaise with each other and lean on each other’s skill sets. For example, I’ve got a reputation in the team as being particularly good at writing reports - it’s even been described as my superpower! There have been a few cases now where a colleague has come to me and said ‘I’ve written this up, but I’m not quite happy with how it flows. Can we spend a bit of time just talking, workshopping, and tweaking things?” And even if it’s an audit that I’ve not been involved with, I can help with structuring things.
Audit reports are very important as they’re ultimately what senior management and the board see - we need to make sure that what we deliver back is accurate, but delivered in a way that’s clear, easily understood, and helpful. So, I get a huge amount of satisfaction helping others in the team to get their message across.
What do you want to do next in your career?
Career is the right word. Everything before NFU Mutual had been a job. Here, I really feel like I’ve found my career. I definitely want to stay in the Internal Audit team for the long-term, but I want to develop more skills and have a broader view. I gained my CISA, which is Certified Information Security Auditor, but I also have a clear plan for how I drive my development.
Above all, I want to stay at NFU Mutual. One of the big things here is that it's a more ethical working environment, and for me, ethics and morals are huge. I love working for a business that’s solely focused on doing the right thing. In my previous roles, before NFU Mutual, it was just about getting a ‘yes’ at the end of the day. Whereas here, it’s about the way we get things done, the principles we work to and the member benefit as the driving force.
Where do you see Internal Audit in five years?
That’s a great question. The team and I all believe that we are at the start of something very special. And with the leadership we have in place, I think Internal Audit is going to become a destination for all the functions across NFU Mutual to help solve some of the biggest challenges.
We have an acronym that we all focus on. It’s called ACE and it stands for Assurance, Consultancy and Education. If we can build relationships and help educate our colleagues, we’ll get more of the consultancy work that will help us turn Internal Audit into a proactive, consultancy-led function. We’ve also seen how this is helping in an external capacity. We’ve worked with a couple of suppliers to help them look at their own processes and we’re getting great results and feedback from our work. I think the next five years are going to be very exciting!
Interested in Internal Audit? Why not take a look at our current vacancies or register for job alerts. We look forward to hearing from you.