Discover how an internal RTO audit can supercharge your RTO
Do you really know what’s going on in your RTO? Or do you feel like things aren’t as efficient or effective as they could be? It might be time to get a fresh set of eyes to look over the internal workings of your RTO.
You may be surprised by what you uncover.
In any organisation, there are always clues when things are not running well. However, we can often miss them because we’re busy with a thousand other things. As the RTO Owner or Manager, often you are the last person to know about a small issue at ground level. By the time it reaches you, it’s not a small issue any more.
Even when RTO owners or managers do pick up on those clues, they sometimes focus on the symptoms and miss the root cause of the issue.
Even when RTO owners or managers do pick up on those clues, they sometimes focus on the symptoms and miss the root cause of the issue. This is where an internal audit becomes invaluable.
For example, let’s say a Training Manager is constantly behind on work. After an internal audit, you discover that it takes them at least 4-5 hours to complete a single enrollment for a student. That is not even taking into account the delays on the student’s end.
We might discover that it’s taking that long because there are no templates, the existing Student Management System isn’t being utilised correctly, the accounting package isn’t connected to the SMS, and the Training Manager is double-handling everything. There are spreadsheets and files everywhere, with no single point of truth for any data.
Sound crazy? It’s a true story. And it was uncovered by an internal audit which asked this staff member to show us the full enrolment process.
See What You’ve Missed with an Internal Audit
Thinking nothing like that would ever happen in your RTO? You’d be surprised. We humans tend to prefer the familiar even when the familiar is a completely inefficient and ineffective way to get things done. It also occurs when staff are unsure or not fully trained in a system or certain aspects of their job.
Sometimes people have been doing the work for so long, day-in and day-out, that they can become blind to issues or inefficiencies. Taking 4-5 hours to complete an enrolment was simply ‘normal’ for that Training Manager, so no alarm bells were ringing. You need a fresh pair of eyes to look over your RTO.
With an internal audit, you can nip problems in the bud. It becomes part of your continuous improvement plan so that even without being involved in the nitty gritty of daily RTO life, you can still have your finger on the pulse of your business.
The good news is that we will be with you every step of the way. So if we do uncover any areas of concern, you don’t need to panic or bury your head in the sand. We’ll work with you to come up with a sensible plan to handle any issue that comes our way. We can help you to focus on the ones that are critical, and to make a future plan for those that are more minor concerns.
Combining RTO Audits with Targeted Coaching
Identifying issues is just the first step in the internal audit. The real magic happens when we use our Coaching, Mentoring and Consultancy Program to rectify those issues and ensure they don’t occur again.
There is always room for improvement and innovation. Don’t wait for an official ASQA audit.
