IIA NZ & RiskAudit: The Audit of Culture Workshop

This course is delivered as two 3-hour workshops, spread across two days:

• Part 1:
• Date: Tuesday 13 October 2026
• Time: 8:30 am - 11:30 am (NZT)
• Duration: 3-hour workshop
• Method: Online

• Part 2:
• Date: Thursday 15 October 2026
• Time: 8:30 am - 11:30 am (NZT)
• Duration: 3-hour workshop
• Method: Online

Important: Please note that participants are required to attend both three-hour workshops scheduled for 13 October and 15 October 2026.

Overview:

This course is delivered as two 3-hour workshops, spread across two days and explores how internal audit can evaluate and influence organizational culture. It combines the IIA's Topical Requirement on Organisational Behaviour, the Competing Values Framework, and practical behavioural risk techniques. Participants will learn how to plan, execute, and report meaningful culture audits that deliver strategic insight and add value to governance and performance.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the key expectations and implications of the Topical Requirement on Organisational Behaviour.
• Apply the Competing Values Framework to assess cultural dynamics and diagnose tensions.
• Conduct cultural deep dives using behavioural evidence and control analysis.
• Develop a tactical plan for embedding culture auditing into the annual audit universe and reporting processes.
• Enhance internal audit's credibility and influence when addressing cultural and behavioural risks.

Course Outline:

SESSION 1: SETTING THE SCENE - WHY AUDIT CULTURE?

• Why culture matters: lessons from corporate failures in behavioural risk
• Defining culture through a behavioural lens
• The evolution of internal audit's role in culture
• Group discussion: how is culture currently reflected in your audit work?

SESSION 2: THE TOPICAL REQUIREMENT ON ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

• Purpose and context of the IIA's Topical Requirement
• Key components, structure, and expectations
• Implications for internal audit planning, methodology, and reporting
• Integrating behavioural risk into risk assessment and control evaluation
• Workshop: identifying where your current practices align or diverge from the Topical Requirement

SESSION 3: UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL DYNAMICS - THE COMPETING VALUES FRAMEWORK

• Overview of the Competing Values Framework (CVF)
• The four culture quadrants: Clan, Adhocracy, Market, Hierarchy
• Balancing competing pressures: control vs flexibility, internal vs external focus
• Mapping your organization's culture profile and linking to strategy
• Group exercise: plotting and interpreting your cultural landscape

SESSION 4: CONDUCTING CULTURE DEEP DIVES

• Selecting focus areas for deep dives (leadership, decision-making, incentives, communication, etc.)
• Gathering behavioural evidence: interviews, observation, surveys, analytics
• Using behavioural observation templates and control mapping
• Case study: applying a deep-dive review to uncover cultural risk drivers

SESSION 5: DEVELOPING THE TACTICAL PLAN

• Building a culture audit roadmap for your organization
• Integrating culture reviews into the annual plan
• Defining responsibilities, sequencing, and success measures
• Reporting culture: tone, narrative, and practical influence
• Group exercise: drafting your tactical plan for culture auditing

SESSION 6: CLOSE AND REFLECTIONS

• Key takeaways
• Q&A
• Discussion: what will you do differently tomorrow?

Materials Provided:

• Topical Requirement summary and implementation checklist
• CVF diagnostic tool
• Behavioural deep-dive observation template
• Tactical plan roadmap

Why Risk Audit?

Training delivered by a co-author of the IIA Topical Requirement for Organisational Behaviour - Sandro Boeri.

Sandro draws from his extensive experience in financial services to train using storytelling, case studies and provocative discussions.

Trainer: Sandro Boeri - Governance, Culture and Behavioural Risk Specialist, Immediate Past President of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors in the UK and founder of Risk Audit Professional Development

Sandro's Bio:

Sandro Boeri is a Culture & Leadership Advisor to Boards and Executives, working with organisations that want culture to be something leaders can understand, influence and use to achieve better business outcomes.

With over 40 years of senior leadership experience inside complex, high-pressure organisations, Sandro brings a rare combination of credibility, commercial understanding and deep insight into how organisations really operate. His work sits at the intersection of culture, leadership behaviour and business performance, helping leaders move beyond abstract conversations and into practical action.

Sandro works with boards, executive teams and senior leaders who recognise that culture is already shaping performance, decisions and outcomes, whether they are paying attention to it or not. His role is to help them see it clearly, understand its impact, and use it deliberately to improve trust, execution and long-term results.

Sandro Boeri is a governance, culture and behavioural risk specialist, currently serving as Immediate Past President of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors in the UK and founder of Risk Audit Professional Development. He works internationally with boards, regulators and audit leaders on how organisational culture, incentives and human behaviour shape real-world outcomes, helping institutions move beyond box-ticking toward more thoughtful, value-adding governance. As a speaker, advisor and co-author of thought leadership on organisational behaviour, his focus is on practical change - influencing how leaders think about culture, accountability and sustainable performance across complex organisations.

Registrations are now open and will close on 5 October 2026