A new study from North Carolina State University’s Poole College of Management reveals ways to boost helpful coaching and training for new staff.

The research shows that experienced auditors are more likely to give useful feedback and coaching to junior staff when they work in the same office or when they expect to work together in the future.

Spreading knowledge

In the study, researchers tested 136 “audit seniors” from various U.S. offices of a global accounting firm. These audit seniors, who have three to five years of experience, are responsible for reviewing the work of less experienced staff to ensure quality.

Each senior auditor was presented with a scenario involving the review of a staff member’s audit testing of a financial statement account. This testing revealed four errors, indicating a need for improvement.

The researchers manipulated two factors for the experiment. Firstly, they informed senior auditors whether the staff member worked in their local office or in an international one. Secondly, they indicated whether the staff member was likely to collaborate on future audit engagements or not.

Location matters

“We found that senior auditors were more likely to explain errors and provide coaching when the staff person was in their local office,” they explain. “However, the biggest effect we saw was that coaching was much better if senior auditors thought the staff person was likely to work on the client again—regardless of where they were located.”

This also highlights the importance of self-interest in the coaching process, as senior people were far more likely to do so when it was in their best interest.

“In cases where senior auditors seemed unlikely to work with a staff person again, they sometimes didn’t even let the staffer know they’d made a mistake—the senior auditor just fixed the mistake themselves without mentioning it,” the researchers explain.

“We also found that the senior auditors who were better coaches—providing more meaningful, constructive feedback—were also more likely to identify errors in the staffer’s work. Senior auditors who put in the time to professionally develop a staffer also appear to be thinking more deeply about the work and recognizing errors that other senior auditors often missed. The tasks of coaching and quality control complimented each other.”

One key lesson for junior staff members is to express their interest in future collaboration with those reviewing their work. This signals to reviewers that investing in coaching efforts can yield mutual benefits, motivating them to provide more effective guidance.

Moreover, the findings hold implications for large auditing firms, particularly regarding their early-career staff situated in international offices.