Department heads may fear effectiveness - type, questions because it could mean the empire they have built may be threatened. These questions could also cause department heads with questionable abilities or job responsibilities to be exposed, reassigned, or terminated. White collar professions traditionally have been immune to a thorough analysis like this because these positions were considered beyond reproach. Consequently, some individuals have abused their positions. To help facilitate an effectiveness audit, an auditor should compare the department to industry and company standards.
Efficiency is simply a question of whether a department used more resources than it planned to.
When confronted, many auditors would immediately look at the financial budget and see if variances were reported to management. In reviewing efficiency, the auditor must look at all resources departments use. These resources include time, personnel, number of items used, number of supplies used, and any other relevant input into their process. Only by looking beyond dollars can an auditor determine how efficiency something is run and discover other problem areas that he or she will not come across during a financial review. Quality of Output.