The impact of behavioural skills of internal auditors on internal audit activities: The case of Turkish public sector

The Impact of Behavioural Skills of Internal Auditors on Internal Audit Activities: The Case of Turkish Public Sector The internal audit function holds a central role in sound public financial management by providing independent and objective evaluations. When effectively implemented in public administrations, internal auditing significantly enhances the efficiency and accountability of governance. The extent to which internal auditors perform their duties in line with standards and ethical rules plays a vital role in supporting public administrations in achieving their strategic objectives and in fostering continuous improvement in administrative processes. One of key factors influencing internal auditing is professional competence referring to the combination of knowledge and skills essential for internal auditors to execute their responsibilities effectively. Among these skills are behavioural competencies that internal auditors must possess. Behavioural skills are the actions demonstrated by internal auditors in their professional interactions with stakeholders. This thesis concentrated on behavioural skills of internal auditors, examining both their impact on the effectiveness of auditing and their interrelationships and explored whether these behavioural skills differentiate according to demographic characteristics of auditors. In this context, the behavioural skill scale and internal audit effectiveness scale were developed. The analysis revealed that collaboration/problem solving skills have a statistically significant impact on the effectiveness of internal auditing and indicated that some competencies are significantly interrelated. Additionally, the behavioural skills of auditors were subjected to descriptive, and difference analyses, yielding important findings. In this scope, the use of internal audit effectiveness and behavioural skills scale to asses audit function, the development of strategic policies aimed at enhancing the behavioural competencies of internal auditors, the implementation of specialized training programmes tailored to these competencies, the efficient execution of designated roles and responsibilities within audit teams, and the establishment of structured feedback mechanisms for evaluating behavioural performance are considered essential to internal audit effectiveness. Keywords: Internal Audit, Standards, Competence, Behavioural Skills, Analysis