Types, levels and stages of human resource auditing:applying meta-synthesis method

One of the main risks in business is human resource risk and one of the most effective tools for managing HR risks is to establish internal control frameworks through human resource auditing. HR auditing is a vital tool for protecting the organization from the many fines and legal costs imposed on the company through human resources activities. This research seeks to identify the types, levels, and stages of HR auditing and is a developmental research. According to the purpose of the research, in the form of an interpretive paradigm, the meta-synthesis method as a qualitative research method was selected and employed. then, through an in-depth analysis of the related literature over a 30-year period (1988–2018) about HR audit levels by using the seven steps of the meta-synthesis method presented by Sandelowski and Barroso, three main levels including process level, HR specialists level and HR results level were extracted. In the case of applicable audit types in the field of HR, four categories including operational, financial, compliance and strategic auditing were identified. Finally, the HR audit stages were identified and extracted in the form of three main stages including pre-audit stages with 4 sub-stages, audit stage with 7 sub-stages and post-audit stage with 5 sub-stages. At the end of the study, Shannon entropy method was used for ensuring the amount of supporting of previous research findings from the present study findings by statistical analysis and along with the results of the research, some suggestions were presented for future research.