usaa
Why Internal Audit?
May 2017
"You're a marketing major, so why are you doing an internship in audit?" I can't count how many times I have been asked some variation of this question when people learned that I would be interning in Internal Audit at USAA during the summer of 2017. Honestly, I have asked myself this question almost as often. When I hear my peers talk about how their upcoming internships at various advertising agencies across Texas, I sometimes feel foolish for turning down the possibility of marketing positions with HEB and USAA. However, when I revisit the values and goals that guided my decision making process last fall, I remember why I chose this position.
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I began thinking about internships soon after I returned from my study abroad in Europe last summer. When I began my internship search, I thought back to past memorable experiences and what had made them valuable for me. I found that the common factors in both the experiences that I had enjoyed and those I hadn't, were an opportunity to learn and an outlet for helping others. Additionally, learning about purpose and value alignment in classes prompted me to seek out organizations that would be a good fit for me. As far as the work itself, I was ready to have an open mind. I knew that no matter what I did, my internship would be a learning experience for me.
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As an army brat, I was raised in a military community and care deeply about the challenges that service members and their families face. As I recognized this desire to give back to the military community, I looked up USAA and realized we shared similar core values. Honesty, integrity, loyalty, and service lie at the heart of their business, as well as a mission to serve the military community. Initially, I applied for a marketing internship, but when there were no marketing representatives at the USAA both at Career Fair, I found myself talking to a representative from Audit Services. After connecting with the recruiter during a forty-five minute conversation at Career Fair, I decided to apply. Why not? As I went through the process, I was impressed with the personalization and investment, not only from the recruiters but also from the whole department during our onsite interview. As I talked to the employees, from senior executive to entry level auditor, the service oriented culture was reiterated by every person that I spoke to. I also appreciated that the department valued diversity of thought. They didn't hesitate to recruit a marketing major to internal audit because of the unique perspective that could be provided. The more I saw, the more I was convinced. When I was contacted for a second interview for the marketing internship also within USAA, I declined in favor of my offer with the audit family.
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Though my internship with audit would not directly relate to my major (and as I would find out, not qualify for my advertising certificate), I believe it will be valuable. As the internal audit department for the entire enterprise at USAA, I will be exposed to a high level view of business and learn about another side of organizations. I hope that I will gain a different perspective and transferable skills to take back to marketing. Lastly, I know that I will be supporting the military community, and working to make their lives easier through USAA.
Graduating from Audit 101
reflection 01
Ethics: Independence and Objectivity
June 2017
“The purpose of the Audit Services department is to enable [mission] accomplishment by providing independent, objective assurance and advisory services designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of [enterprise processes]; in so doing, Audit Services will act as a trusted business advisor to the [enterprise].”
- Audit Services Purpose Statement
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At USAA, before fieldwork for an audit begins, it must be approved by the Chief Audit Executive (CAE). In the checkpoint meeting for my audit, my Auditor-in-Charge (AIC) and I met to brief our CAE, Kirk Haggard, about our engagement. At the beginning of the internship, Kirk announced that he would be transitioning to a leadership position in the Property and Casualty (P&C) area of USAA at the end of the summer. Our audit, National Catastrophe Operations, falls under P&C. When we went in to our checkpoint meeting with Kirk, Frank introduced the audit and its theme song (Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra). But Lorie, the P&C team’s VP, posed a question that changed the course of the meeting. “Kirk, are you able to remain independent and objective for this audit?” After considering this for a minute, Kirk replied that he had been in communication with P&C leadership as they have been briefing him for his on-boarding in the next few months. Though he has not communicated with them directly about the National Catastrophe Audit, he replied he should not be the one to approve the audit because of the perception that could arise from doing so. While he could remain independent and objective in fact, the perception of his involvement in the audit could bring into question the independence and objectivity of Audit Services as a whole. When Kirk came to this conclusion, he stepped back from all P&C audits for the remainder of his tenure in Audit Services, and instructed us to report to the previous interim CAE, Jeff Rowland.
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I realized ethics is not only about what you do, it can also be related to what people believe about your actions. The perception of unethical or unfair behavior alone can lead to lower employee morale or even regulatory scrutiny. Kirk anticipated how his actions, while ethical in fact, could compromise the integrity of the department. I learned the importance of being aware of the message you communicate through your actions; each speaks volumes to your personal brand as well as the brand of your organization.
Kirk Haggard with the Audit Troopers and Patio Chat speaker, Danielle Reyes
Reflection 02
Reflection 03
National Catastrophe Operations
June 2017
I was shocked when I found I was going to be aligned to the Insurance team for the summer. I was a marketing major; I didn't know anything about insurance. But when I got to audit, I kept hearing people say things like, "P&C is the heart of USAA." My perspective started to change when our own CAE, Kirk Haggard, told us during the first week, "We talk a lot about being there for our members at USAA, and P&C is really where the rubber hits the road." While it initially seemed out of my depth, working on the National Catastrophe Operations (NCO) audit allowed me to experience and, indirectly, be a part of serving military members and their families in some of their most desperate times of need.
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I started planning and fieldwork on the NCO audit the day after I completed training, immediately sitting in on client meetings and, within a week, leading my own. It was a quick transition, and I kept busy between meetings by reading all I could find about auditing, insurance, and the Cat Ops team. As the only staff on the audit outside of the AIC, I owned a scope item for the audit, which meant I was responsible for obtaining the necessary information about a specific process from the client and documenting it in a lead sheet. With the help of my AIC and the support and encouragement from many of the other full time employees, I started making sense of the different 'languages' that were intermingled throughout the audit and I was able to finish my leadsheet ahead of schedule.
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It wasn't until I was wrapping up my fieldwork that the significance of my work hit me. The Audit Services leadership set up a tour of Eagle One, one of the catastrophe response vehicles, for my fellow interns and I. Our tour guide was one of my clients, Calvin Schlafke. As he shared stories of going out to CAT (officially declared catastrophes) sites, my audit came to life. These families, sometimes with a loved one deployed overseas, suffered the loss of memories, homes, and occasionally life. Calvin also spoke of the comfort that USAA's presence communicated. Whether or not they were needed at a site, he said the most frequent visitors were members who came by to thank USAA for always being there. I realized how the work I was doing in ensuring that USAA members were being taken care of during natural disasters was impacting these people. I finally understood Kirk's words.
I'm not sure if my manager could have predicted the impression that my assignment to the insurance team would have on me. I learned that insurance shares a major aspect that drew me to marketing: it connects business to people. As Ky Osborn, the Assistant Vice President of Claims Operations, she noted in a later conversation, "Good marketing is about communicating messages that connect with people's souls." There are few advertising campaigns that are able to communicate hope and reassurance more effectively than when members see Eagle One and know that USAA is truly there for them when they need it the most. Working on the National Catastrophe Operations Audit was a meaningful experience for me not only because of my growth as a business professional, but also because it allowed me to participate in serving our members and communicating peace to them.
Calvin Schlafke presenting to members about Eagle One
Reflection 04
Contributing to the Culture
July 2017
When I finished my test step for the National Catastrophe Operations audit ahead of schedule, I was ready to jump into my next audit. However, due to a scheduling error, I found the Enterprise and Data Analytics Office (EDAO) audit was not scheduled for fieldwork till two weeks later. So in the meantime, I went to one of my mangers and asked if she had any projects to work on. She informed me that her team, the Audit Analytics Team (AAT), was scheduled to have their quarterly healthy session and she wanted to it to be about generational differences in the workplace. She then gave the project to me to brainstorm a workshop and facilitate it with a member of her team.
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Healthy sessions within audit teams were instituted after Patrick Lencioni spoke to leaders at USAA. He discussed the importance of not only focusing on "smart" business practices, but also on the "health" of employees and culture. My manager used this opportunity to identify the age differences among the members of her team and encourage open dialogue about age diversity perceptions in the workforce.
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After understanding her goals, I was free to come up with talking points and activities for an hour and a half session. I was excited! This was a fun project and I could reference childhood favorites I grew up watching on TV Land. In brainstorming, I channeled my father (a baby boomer), as I imagined his reaction to the relaxed work environment at USAA. As I researched about generations in the workforce, I realized even deeper differences in the way that older and younger generations view their career paths and motivations for work. I compiled a presentation and went through it with Jacob Reyes, a millennial member of the team. With his suggestions, I finalized the powerpoint.
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At the start of the session, I had the room split between Baby Boomers (and older Gen X) and millennials. To equalize the split, my manager invited some of my fellow interns to participate and share their perspectives. We addressed common stereotypes and discussed themes like change, communication, culture, and feedback. People on both sides were able to share their thoughts and personal stories. We were all able to poke fun at ourselves and have a good time, while also challenging our perceptions of the other group. I got to meet all the members of the analytics team and participate in the inside jokes that sprung from the dialogue. The session was a success! I received feedback from my manager, the team members, and some of the other interns that they really enjoyed and learned from the session. My manager told me that she was going to share my presentation and outline with other team leaders for their future healthy sessions!
I loved working on this project, and it was meaningful to be able to contribute to the culture I have come to love at USAA. It also challenged my perception of generational diversity and showed me the importance of audience awareness. The experience was also great practice for teaching my BUSN 481 class next year.
An unbranded version of my presentation and facilitator notes for the AAT Healthy Session
Reflection 05
Building a House
July 2017
One of my favorite projects was working on an internal change management campaign for the Audit department. USAA is growing rapidly, and Audit Services must expand as well to meet the needs of the enterprise. One of the teams within audit, the Professional Practices team, works on projects that support the growth and operations of the department. During the intermission between audits, I was able to use my marketing background to help create the internal marketing materials for the campaign.
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When I joined the project, my supervisor didn't realize that I was a marketing major. But as she described what she needed me to do, I lit up with excitement. I was tasked with brainstorming a tagline and banner design for the five year campaign, Operation R2R3. In addition, I had to create a themed music playlist for the upcoming campaign expo. I took note of her vision for the campaign theme. She explained that during many of the meetings with leadership, they had often used the metaphor of "a bigger audit house" to describe the expansion.
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With the house theme in mind, I started brainstorming ideas for the tagline. Referencing some of my marketing books (How to Get Ideas by Jack Foster and Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler), I wanted to craft a tagline that accurately represented the audit brand and captured the goals of the campaign. I researched the campaign background and the audit plan. With this information, I came up with several different taglines and we reviewed them at a meeting with the executive for the Professional Practices and some of the change management specialists. We decided to send a list of everyone's ideas to the entire department and give them the opportunity to choose which they preferred. One of mine, "Building the Future of Audit," was selected!
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In the meantime, I searched for relevant images to use for the expo and designed a mock-up for the banner and promotional materials. I also got to give input on the executions of promotional materials. I also thoroughly enjoyed looking up songs for the playlist around the theme of building a house. It was more challenging than I imagined because of the amount of screening that I had to do for each song, as well ensuring that multiple generations would recognize and enjoy the song choices.
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I wasn't able to see this project through to completion because my internship ended before the expo, but my manager promised to let me know how it went. This project was not only fun for me because of my marketing background, but it also opened my mind to another marketing option. While the project was underneath the umbrella of change management, I saw it as internal marketing. The campaign was a way of uniting the audit department and communicating peace and excitement through the stressful changes that are happening. I was able to create something that would be a reminder of the purpose of the change, but also would become a part of the Audit Services brand.
The playlist for the R2R3 Expo and an early mock-up for promotional materials
Reflection 06
Enduring Wisdom
July 2017
During the internship, USAA and Audit allowed us to attend speakers and schedule one-on-one networking meetings with executives across the enterprise. These are some of my favorite pieces of advice from these meetings.
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Kirk Haggard (Chief Audit Executive):
- Always ask: "What am I adding to my knowledge portfolio?"
- There are always hard changes in life. But, they provide experience and knowledge you couldn't gain in any other way.
- You lose part of your soul when you are forced to compromise your core values.
- For each season of life, always know what your value equation is.
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Culture Training:
- Be Here Now
- Before looking to critique, first look to understand. Question your approach before questioning others.
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Special Operations Forces Truths:
- Humans are more important than hardware.
- Quality is better than quantity.
- SOF cannot be mass produced.
- Competent SOF cannot be created after emergencies occur.
- Most Special Ops requires non-SOF support.
Meriah Garrett (Chief Design Officer):
- Look for the root cause of a problem. Ask the right questions to identify the unmet needs of the user and develop a solution for those needs.
- Good ideas are useless unless they are re-framed in light of the user.
-"If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have said 'a faster horse.'" - Henry Ford
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Heather Cox (Chief Digital and Technology Officer):
- What value do you give back to the world?
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Ky Osborn (Assistant Vice President of Claims Operations):
- Good marketing is about communicating messages that connect with people's souls.
- Be confident in the value you add.
- Be a difference maker! It doesn't cost money to be extraordinary. You don't always get thanks for everything you do - but that's part of it. We never know how much our encouragement impacted another person.
- Legacy is about relationships and empowering people to find the potential within themselves so they can continue to make the world a better place. It's about believing in people and helping them see themselves differently. When they accomplish great things, reminding them, 'It was always in you.'
-(On speaking/presenting) "Nobody in the room knows what you are going to say."
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Sean Burgess (Senior Vice President of Property and Casualty):
- The newest person in the room is always the smartest. Never underestimate the value of a fresh perspective.
- Members first; Employees always.
- Have a bias for action: It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
- Diversity and inclusion don't just happen.
- Lead from the front.
- Keep calm.
- Take risks.
- Attitude trumps knowledge.
Reflection 07
Post Internship Review
July 2017
At the beginning of my internship, I would have never guessed how much I enjoyed the summer. I got to live like a tourist in my home town. The memories and friendships I formed with my intern class, the Audit Troopers, will last a lifetime. At USAA, I discovered what I want in a company: strong values and a family culture with people who care about each other. I built relationships with people across the company, and got to spend my free time playing sports. I experienced Zero Day PT, a simulation of the first day of basic training for the military. Within Audit, I found a true family. Everyone was welcoming and encouraging. They cared about and supported my growth as an auditor and an individual.
I found auditing far different than what I expected. There is often a negative connotation associated with it, but I found it to be about being a trusted partner and adding value. At USAA, some of the strongest traits I witnessed in the auditors were curiosity and humility. Questions are not dismissed, they are encouraged. I was told that if I wasn't asking questions, I was doing something wrong. Asking questions is a way of understanding and making connections. Also, when working on audits, it was easy to fall into the trap of noticing the little things that were wrong. But my AIC's attitude helped me gain perspective. While we were helping them improve some of their small processes and ensure they controlled risks appropriately, their work was essential to serving the members. They were the subject matter experts (SMEs) of their business. We were there to support them. In a way, we were communicating to the different lines of business that they add value to the company and that they are supported.
From this internship, I learned so much about professional life, communication, and building relationships.
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Some other lessons I took from this summer:
- It's only a failure if you don't learn from it.
- Leadership is not a position; it's an action.
- Completion is better than perfection.
- Don't be afraid to identify areas for improvement.
- When you cannot change your situation, you can only change your response to it.
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