| Prior research has shown correlations between human resource management and organizational performance. Proper attention to the needs and skills of professionals could be pivotal for audit firms in their attempts to regain the public's trust in the profession after what happened at Enron, WorldCom, Ahold, Parmalat, and more recently Madoff and the credit crunch. The present and future shortage of certified financial auditors and the increasing compliance demands on the profession means that, more than ever, audit firms need to be aware of the implications and consequences of human resource management on the well-being and commitment of their audit professionals. In conjunction with renewed interest (i.e. legislation) for audit quality and the fact that the work that auditors perform is largely intangible by nature, it could even be postulated that human resource management has direct consequences on (or for) audit quality. The purpose of this research project is to perform an exploratory study on the potential influence that human resource management and organizational design exert on auditors in exercising their professional judgment. The research views the psychological contact as a potential key success factor for audit firms in retention of qualified professionals. |
