Mind of Jacka: A Client by Any Other Name

Let’s start by agreeing that the word “auditee” has outlived its usefulness. I believe it has been eradicated to the point of extinction. At least, I hope it has. A few years ago, I was facilitating an introduction to internal audit course and used the word “clients.” One individual, quite vehemently, wanted to know why we didn’t just call them “auditees,” arguing, “After all, that is what we are doing to them, auditing them.” What scared me most was the individual had come from the human resources department. I think I understand why she was asked to move on.

When referring to those with whom we work, I have done a pretty good job of eliminating “auditee” from my lexicon, even though when I was a fledgling auditor in the ‘80s, the word was de rigueur. So, aside from an occasional slip, “clients” is the word that normally falls from my lips.

I don’t like this word. Much like “auditee,” it still feels like we are doing something to the people with whom we are working. I prefer “customer” because I feel it better shows how we need to work with people, and it shows more respect for them than “client.” (And, as I think about this as I am typing, isn’t it true that all clients are actually customers?) I wrote about this a few years ago and quite a few people disagreed with me. I did not see a wellspring of support for my position.

But recently I saw a presentation which brought this discussion back to mind. The individual indicated their department does not use any of these terms — client, customer, or auditee. Instead, they refer to them as “partners in the business.”

I like that. It shows we are part of the organization and we are partnering with everyone in the organization to help achieve success.

And yet…

Here’s my question. Why do we have to call them anything? Why is it we feel we need a word for the relationship we have with others in the organization? Do other departments feel the need to come up with a special name? What does the marketing department call those they work with? What about the mailroom? What about accounting? What about purchasing? What about human resources?

Maybe they have their own terms. Maybe they even have terms that can be repeated in mixed company. But I am hard-pressed to think of what they might be. And it makes me wonder why we think we have to be different.

As I warned, I don’t know the answer to this one. But I wonder if we are spending so much time trying to figure out what we call our constituents/customers/partners/clients/auditees that we forget that the naming of our coworkers is inconsequential to how we perceive and work with them.

I know we’ll probably keep calling them clients. But do we really have to call them anything? And do you think they might be able to come to grips with that?