The Effects of Supervisor Coaching and Workplace Mindfulness on Audit Quality-Threatening Behavior among Staff Auditors

Abstract

This article summarizes a recent academic study (Herda, Cannon, and Young 2019) that investigates the effects of supervisor coaching and staff auditors' workplace mindfulness on premature sign-off—a serious audit quality-threatening behavior that can go undetected through the review process. Our study predicts and finds that staff auditors who are coached by supervisors to consider the impact of their work on external financial statement users are more mindful (i.e., more attentive and aware) during an audit and less likely to engage in premature sign-off. The results highlight the importance of workplace mindfulness in an audit environment and suggest that supervisor coaching is a practical technique to elicit workplace mindfulness among staff-level auditors.