How can internal auditors assist in risk management?

Internal auditors play a crucial role in risk management by providing insights on risk assessment and mitigation. Their objective perspective allows them to identify potential risks that may not be apparent to management or staff. Through their analyses, auditors can evaluate the effectiveness of existing risk management processes, ensuring that risks are being properly identified, managed, and mitigated.

By engaging in discussions with various departments and analyzing data, internal auditors can highlight areas of vulnerability and recommend specific actions to reduce these risks. This function helps the organization create a more robust risk management framework, thereby protecting it from potential losses or strategic missteps.

The other options focus on narrower functions that do not encompass the broader role internal auditors play in risk management. Conducting financial audits is important, but it does not directly address the comprehensive assessment of risks across the organization. Designing new operational processes may be outside the primary scope of an auditor's role and could overlap with management's responsibilities. Enforcing compliance policies, while important, is more about adherence to laws and regulations and does not directly involve the proactive assessment and strategic mitigation of risks, which is the fundamental aspect of effective internal auditing in the context of risk management.