Committees of end users were formed to solicit input, resolve questions as to approach and to ensure staff would be stakeholders in the new system. Lessons learned from previously developed auditing systems as well as end user suggestions for improvement were taken into account. The audit program follows an all around approach including the best procedures and practices found in private sector auditing, Federal standards and setting the performance bar a a high level. All of these are meant to ensure a quality audit product. A balance between quality, fairness, equity and productivity has been built into the system and subsequent training so that the New York employer population is well served in the audit and investigation process.
Emphasis is placed on the auditor's role as an educator in the course of achieving compliance.
Sufficient training is essential. A program of basic training in computers, operating system and Office 97 applications was given. This was followed with a 2 week TS DBMS training program. A system of user support was put into place. The system is comprised of user experts, e-mail help, a telephone help desk and a method for submitting suggestions for improvement and bug reports directly to programming staff.