The Midlands outfit narrowly escaped relegation to the Championship this season, eventually retaining their top-flight status by finishing just three points clear of the drop zone.
That represented a significant deterioration on West Brom's eighth-placed finish in 2012-13, with head coach Steve Clarke dismissed last December due to the club's worsening performance.
Clarke's successor Pepe Mel kept West Brom up but departed The Hawthorns earlier this month, and McAuley has called on his team-mates to hit the ground running next term to avoid another relegation scrap.
Speaking to the club's official website, he said: "The boys are talking about coming back for pre-season already.
"They're talking about coming back and putting it right. We need to get off to a good start because last year we didn't have the best of starts and we never really got going.
"We really need to get going in pre-season this year. Since I've come here it's always been about improving on the last season.
"We have to get that right now, get our heads down in pre-season - the lads who are here and any new lads who come in - get ourselves together and make sure we don't have another season like last."
