Most would agree that efficient operations are a key ingredient to the success

of a company. Certainly, there is a huge opportunity cost to any division or

organization that continues to support inefficient and ineffective processes in
a highly competitive global market.

To combat these inefficiencies, corporations in every industry have begun to

make investments in process improvement methodologies such as Lean Six
Sigma.

Lean Six Sigma, when applied properly, can result in more efficient operations
that produce better products and services for customers.

As such, investments have been made in various areas of operations, most

notably in supply chain, technology and manufacturing. However, one area
where you may not have seen as much investment to date is in human
resources.

Human resources, by its very nature, does not seem like an area that would
benefit from process improvement. After all, HR doesn’t produce a tangible
product, and it’s difficult to quantitatively measure the level of satisfaction
with this functional area.

However, HR does provide a service with routine operations. And where there
are routine operations, there’s room for process improvement that can lead to
more efficient and effective service for customers (in this case, a company’s
employees).

Lean Six Sigma is Industry Agnostic

One key aspect of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma is that they are industry
agnostic. While Six Sigma and Lean began in manufacturing, their ideas
translate into any type of business.

Organizations in wide-ranging industries such as healthcare,

government, higher education and the military have found success with Lean
and Six Sigma tools and techniques.
HR is not unique. It, too, can succeed as other organizational operations have
by applying Lean Six Sigma. For example, Lean Six Sigma could help improve
HR in these quantifiable areas:

 Compensation processes – Examples include determining bonus pay

benchmarks and authorizing overtime
 Orientation processes – Every orientation process involves paperwork
and routine tasks that can be optimized
 Recruitment processes – Is the company responding to potential new
hires in a timely way? Is the process for creating job postings as efficient
as it could be?

That’s just three. In every functional area, including HR, if there’s a process,
there’s an opportunity for the application of Lean and Six Sigma to make a
positive impact.

Employee Growth and Retention

Lean Six Sigma can help cut waste and make HR processes more efficient. But,
HR also can play an active, critical role in establishing a Six Sigma culture at a
company.

For example, Six Sigma Black Belts are among the most important members of
the organization when it comes to developing and implementing Six Sigma
processes. But where can you find the candidates for this critical position, and
who will oversee training? Organizations are typically very careful about who
they put into these key roles.

HR managers can take a lead in this area, working with executives to establish
a competency model that helps identify those with the most potential for
excelling in Lean Six Sigma leadership roles.

Some of the areas they can focus on include:

 Communication skills
 Leadership ability
 Management skills
  Expertise in an organization’s processes
 Positive attitude

Training and developing Yellow, Green and Black Belts is important and
effective toward improving overall employee retention. This can also provide a
highly coveted professional development opportunity to a key employee. This
is a win-win for both the individual and the corporation.

Establishing A Six Sigma Culture

Many of the skills listed for Black Belts also apply directly to a leadership role
in HR. This is not a coincidence. It is advantageous to have those with skills in
Six Sigma in HR leadership positions. Job postings today will often list Lean Six
Sigma-related job skills for HR professionals.

With Lean Six Sigma trained employees, HR departments are better suited to
establish a culture that aligns with Six Sigma – data-driven, focused on
continuous process improvement and analytical in its approach. But even
when executives have complete buy-in to the idea, they don’t always know
how to create this culture. HR professionals are typically experts in this area
and can take the necessary steps to advocate for change and begin to instill
processes that support a continuous process improvement culture.

Lean Six Sigma in HR can have a significant impact on an organization. For

those working in HR, earning certification in Six Sigma is often the first step
toward combining these two areas.
Six Sigma has been well applied in manufacturing through improving processes that use the DMAIC
methodology. Some larger corporations have integrated Six Sigma so well into the corporate culture
that it can be considered the DNA of the company. However, even in such companies, the human
resources department has been practic ally untouched by Six Sigma. In a recent conference of the
human resources professionals in Chicago, it was clear that HR people are now looking to benefit
from Six Sigma initiatives. Two of the questions that have been asked are, “How does HR implement
Six Sigma?,” and “What can HR do to help Six Sigma initiatives in an organization?”
Businesses develop strategies for profit and growth. The strategy is driven down through action plans
for execution. Most strategies fail to get down to the floor level and get lost in the middle layers of
management, but HR can help execute the profit and growth strategy through the use of Six Sigma.
Figure 1 shows the important role of HR in driving business strategy through Six Sigma and in
creating the Six Sigma culture. The HR department interacts with and influences every employee;
therefore, it’s the department best suited to facilitate management change. The figure shows that an
organization needs HR to integrate Six Sigma methodology and a business scorecard to achieve
growth and profitability.

When Motorola first successfully implemented Six Sigma from 1987 to 1992, its management
program of setting goals, sharing savings, risk-taking and linking personal goals to corporate goals
all played important roles. As a result, the company grew, made lots of money and rewarded its
employees with bonuses. The ch allenge in implementing Six Sigma in HR includes questions such
as, “What should I do?,” “What should I measure?,” “How would I improve the HR process?” and
“How can HR be at 3.4 parts per million as it doesn’t deal with a million people?”

It must be understood that HR isn’t a huge part of any business, but it has a huge effect on every
business. Human resources should be considered as human capital. HR must ensure that there’s
good return on investment in human capital. Typical HR functions include benefits management,
compensation, recruitment and skills development. Innovation and change management must also
become key functions in the HR department. In addition to managing these functions well,
managing idea to innovation, improving HR functions, and accountability of employees and
executives must also be implemented.

Figure 1. Six Sigma and Human Resources

 One must create a process map for
HR department to clearly understand
HR functions and prepare for
implementing Six Sigma. For the
critical steps in the HR functions, one
can answer the following questions to
identify opportunities for
improvement that can be exploited by
applying the Six Sigma methodology:

 What is the purpose the HR

function or sub-function?

 What are the expected

deliverables (people, skills, services,
value, reports, etc.)?

 What are the measures of

goodness of key-deliverables?

 What are the error opportunities for key-deliverables?

 What improvement activities are carried out in the HR function?

Answering the above questions, one can identify output (unit), measures of reliability, and items and
elements that can go wrong (opportunities for error). Having identified ‘what’ to measure, one can
establish a baseline for key performance indicators, which may include one or more of the following:

 HR Responsiveness

 Employee involvement

 Idea and innovation for improvement

 HR effectiveness in fulfilling its intended functions

Implementing Six Sigma in HR is no different than applying it in other functions. The key is
recognizing gaps or opportunities for improvement by breaking down processes in manageable
chunks. The HR function can take the following steps to implement Six Sigma in HR or to facilitate
implementation of Six Sigma in the organization:

 Establish a clear and significant role of HR for institutionalizing Six Sigma

 Establish Six Sigma objectives and role in HR

 Seek customer feedback and identify opportunities for improvement

 Establish Six Sigma goals for HR function

 Formulate, prioritize projects and form teams

 Provide Six Sigma Green Belt training

 Implement DMAIC for breakthrough solution.

Examples of Six Sigma projects that companies’ HR departments have completed include reduction
in overtime, reduction in time and cost to hire an employee, reduction in employee retention or
turnover, reduction in safety violations, reduction in cost of employee separation, and HR response
to internal inquiries for benefits, payroll, promotion and fairness.

Six Sigma implies dramatic improvement through reengineering or innovation of the HR function.
HR involvement in achieving corporate growth and profitability must be defined. The HR role must
support leadership and departmental activities, provide feedback, and intellectu ally engage
employees in achieving their personal and corporate objectives. Customers expect better, faster and
cost-effective solutions. Unless every department performs better, faster and cheaper, the company
will be unable to meet customer expectations. HR is no exception to this expectation. It must be set
to perform better, faster and more cost-effectively by creating value rather than just rote support of
management or training. Creating value could be accomplished through innovative solutions and
employee innovation. This is a low-hanging fruit for HR.
DEPLOYMENT OF SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY IN HUMAN RESOURCE
FUNCTION: A CASE STUDY By Bill Wyper and Alan Harrison. Need for
improvement in HR Prior to the introduction of improvement initiatives the
HR function did not enjoy a desirable reputation in the company. HR was seen
as reactive, unco-ordinated, over-manned and unprofessional, delivering poor,
slow and non cost-effective services. HR employees were working hard to keep
broken and ill-defined processes in place, with a level of application that bore
no resemblance to the required results. The outputs of the key HR processes
were not clearly defined. This image had a demoralizing effect on HR
employees as they were aware that their considerable efforts were not
appreciated in the business. Many research studies have indicated that
Human Resource Management (HRM) processes have a high impact on
business performance. For example, in their 10-year study of 100 UK small
and medium size businesses, Patterson et al. (1997) concluded that "HRM
practices . . . are the most powerful predictors of change in company
performance". Why choose Six Sigma? Comparison between Six Sigma and
HRM versus traditional and personnel core values reveals that Six Sigma and
HRM share the same core values of social and technical systems, as presented
in Fig. 1. Business environment prior to Six Sigma deployment The company
ownership had just been changed and the corporate world-wide integration
process, including restructuring, was in its early stage. The global organization
business strategy had been defined and communicated. The newly appointed
HR Director realized that the HR strategy was critical to the business survival
and success. On the first meeting with HR employees, he shared goals of HR
strategy, as: "Right people in the right place at the right time at the right cost".
A radical view of HR was developed and promoted, which determined that HR
consists of the following six basic processes that can provide the strategy: (1)
Organization environment (2) Employee development (3) Resourcing (4)
Reward (5) Communication (6) Organization improvement. Organization
environment and organization improvement surround the four key processes,
as presented in the model in Fig. 2, and create the climate and ability for
improvement. Process definition was followed by definition of HR structure,
roles and responsibilities and measures of performance. An HR function
improvement programme was initiated based on deployment of Six Sigma
methodology, benchmarking and measurement of strategy implementation
and customer results. What is Six Sigma? Six Sigma is a logical and
methodical approach to achieving continuous improvements in areas critical
to the success of any manufacturing or service-oriented business. This process
improvement methodology was developed in the 1980s in Motorola's high-
volume manufacturing environment. This has contributed to the creation of
the general opinion that Six Sigma is only applicable to high-volume,
manufacturing processes. Actually, Six Sigma is applicable to both
manufacturing and service industries, and to both high- and low-volume
production environments. In the first 5 years of Six Sigma implementation,
Motorola achieved savings of $US2.2 billion (Harry, 1994). Other companies
followed, e.g. ABB, Allied Signal, Bombardier, General Electric. Six Sigma
starts with the application of statistical methods for translating information
from customers into specifications for products or services being developed or
produced. Six Sigma is a business strategy, and a philosophy of one working
smarter not harder. It promotes and requires different behaviour and a new
way of thinking--facts-based, statistical thinking, just as predicted by H. G.
Wells, who stated that: "Statistical thinking would one day be as necessary for
efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write". Six Sigma is named after
the process that has six standard deviations on each side of the specification
window. Such a process produces 3.4 defects per one million opportunities in
the long term. The Six Sigma model of change is based on Deming's plan-do-
check-act model: Prioritize: Which processes have the highest priority for
improvement, i.e. the key processes that will enable maximum leverage and
customer satisfaction? Measure: What is the capability of the process?
Analyse: When and where do defects occur? Improve: How can Six Sigma
capability be achieved? What are the vital few factors that control process
results? Control: What controls will we put in place to sustain the gain? Six
Sigma is not a short-term, quick fix improvement project. Committed,
competent and charismatic leadership is essential to coach and guide in
implementation of this holistic, long-term continuous improvement
methodology. Improvement team The Six Sigma HR team was established,
involving HR process owners, facilitator (Six Sigma Black Belt) and mentor
(HR Director). Internal customers were identified as critical stakeholders and
their participation was secured through their direct/indirect representation or
through feedback communication. The main roles of stakeholders were as
follows: Internal customers: to participate in the specification of objectives
and targets, selection of particular measures of performance which are aligned
with the overall business and HR strategy and to provide a feedback. HR
process owners and participants: in addition to the same role as of internal
customers, to learn and deploy Six Sigma improvement tools and to develop,
implement and sustain in continuous improvement of their processes that
optimize measures of performance to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. The
Six Sigma Black Belt had a role to facilitate the team in Six Sigma deployment,
from problem definition to sustained improvement implementation, to
identify and provide necessary Six Sigma training and to facilitate all
participants to deploy improvement tools in the most effective and efficient
way in order to optimize processes against selected measures of performance.
The mentor's role was to define required core values and promote them by
example, to lead and participate in the change, to gain commitment, to
motivate, coach and build trust, and to resolve, overcome or remove the
barriers. The HR team developed team values based on integrity, honesty,
openness, reliability, mutual respect to each other, encouragement of
participation and mutual support with no status barriers. Objectives The
primary team objectives were to develop and implement HR processes and
measures of performance with embedded continuous improvement, owned by
HR process participants, that would deliver defined strategy, with the focus on
complete internal customer satisfaction. The secondary objectives were to
increase job security and survival of HR central within the company, increase
employability of HR staff, promote Six Sigma and promote the success of
empowered, high-performance teams. Methodology: Deployment of Six Sigma
process improvement methodology The Six Sigma (prioritize-measure-
analyse-improve-control) change model was followed with fact-based
decision-making. Prioritize Prioritization started with identification of the
service provided. Customers were identified and asked to define what they
considered as important service characteristics. Process needs were identified
to provide a service that satisfied the customers. Measure The role of
measurement is to get new questions, as it is most likely that the same
questions will produce the same results. As we want to change results we need
to have new questions that can indicate the direction of breakthrough
improvements. Generally, measures of performance were selected that have
an impact on cost, quality, throughput time and/or human reaction. Quality
function deployment was used to identify and analyse measures of
performance that are aligned with customer requirements and HR strategy
objectives. The analysis started with the development of HR process maps,
which effectively revealed shortcomings in the processes with immediate
remedies and benefits. Communication, resourcing, rewarding and
development were selected as the first processes to be analysed. A standard
process analysis tool was applied, as it would have been applied to any
manufacturing process. For example, effectiveness and efficiency of each
process step were challenged by identifying value added, 'dead-ends', cycle
time, rework and defects, complexity, etc. An example of a communication
process map is presented in Fig. 3. Internal customers and other relevant
stakeholders were involved in the definition of the process maps, for example
interviews with employees, HR employees and senior staff who have stakes in
a particular HR process. The criteria for measures of performance (MOPS)
selection were agreed by the team, with the main objectives: to ensure
alignment of HR and business strategic objectives; to define critical-to-quality
measures (CTQ); to define critical-to-cost measures (CTX); to define critical-
to-throughput time measures (CTT); valuable to organization; valuable to
individual; easy to understand and remember. A cost of poor quality estimate
was performed. For example, costs of involvement in employment tribunals
were very tangible and measurable, and could be regarded as an outcome of
the redundancy process, but most other processes have less tangible costs of
poor quality attached to them. A clear definition of process scope and
measures of performance that are within the control of HR did focus
evaluation and improvement efforts. For example, it is hard to avoid lengthy
(and perhaps unnecessary) debates of costs of poor quality of the
communication process unless the scope of the communication process is
clearly determined and accepted by interested stakeholders. Internal customer
satisfaction has been regarded as an important element as well. High positive
correlation between improvement actions and customer satisfaction
confirmed effectiveness of measures of performance. The HR Director
introduced upward appraisal from the HR team on his leadership
performance to help create the necessary environment for improvement.
Analysis All data were tested against the CHART[copyright] data test
(complete-honest-accurate-relevant-timely), i.e. no data could enter the
analysis stage unless they satisfied the CHART test. Appropriate Six Sigma
tools were deployed to monitor and analyse performance of processes. For
example, a statistical control chart was used to monitor the quality level of
communication process feedback. The lower control limit (LCL) was
calculated by following general rules for statistical control charts. In this
example, it means that the current process has an LCL equal to 2.8, which is
below the minimum target (3.1). The facilitator helped communication
process participants to understand the meaning and relevance of the control
chart and evaluate correlation between those hard facts and internal
customers' perception and satisfaction levels. In this case, the decision was to
leave the process as it is, and deploy resources in improvement actions in
other HR processes, which had higher priority. The control chart was also
used to monitor recruitment time in the recruitment process. There were few
measuring points above the upper control limit (UCL). The chart helped
recruitment process owners to single out those occasions and analyse causes
of so unusually long a recruitment time. A further analysis of the recruitment
process was performed, in order to identify the vital few parameters that have
an impact on recruitment time (e.g. position type, geographical proximity of
recruits, type and timing of advertising, etc.), and recruitment methods were
modified to prevent future occurrences. In the communication process the
rate of return of feedback sheets was monitored, applying a run chart. After a
trend analysis, the process owners set the targets they wanted to achieve, and
a time-scale. They monitored impact of improvement actions on a run chart. A
cause and effect diagram was applied to identify all possible elements that
have an input into the communication process, and to single out the vital few
parameters that have a leverage over feedback return rate. Analysis was
performed by process owners, with facilitation of Six Sigma Black Belt. Direct
participation supported sharing of objectives and ownership of improvement
actions. Targets were set based on customer requirements and process
capabilities (where measurements proved that process was in control). The
primary goal of the analysis was to identify the vital few parameters that affect
process result. Those parameters were identified by using the experience of
process participants, correlation analysis and customers feedback. Other Six
Sigma tools were deployed as well, for example Pareto analysis was used to
analyse reasons for leaving the company. Improve Development and
implementation of improvement solutions followed identification of vital
input parameters that affect selected process measures of performance
(MOPs). onitoring of improvement actions was realized through implemented
HR database. Vital process inputs and process results were monitored and
correlation verified. The focus has gradually shifted from monitoring MOPs to
measuring and controlling inputs that control MOPs and reporting MOPs
trends. Control The key control objective is to sustain and get a continuous
improvement process embedded into HR processes. A quarterly HR review
report was developed and issued and presented by HR. It contained process
analysis results (control charts, histograms, trends and other monitoring
charts), conclusions, observations and improvement actions to be completed
by the next review and a Six Sigma score chart (Sigma Benchmark of all HR
processes, Zb). Achieved benefits The cost of HR function per employee has
been reduced by 34% in 18 months, with the same or better service provided,
and an overhead cost reduction of pound250000 has been achieved.
Businesses have achieved budgeted turnover with 15% fewer people and, for
the first time, annual employee bonus. Overall outcomes of improvement
activities are better, faster and more cost-effective HR services to the business.
HR systems now transform problems into preventive actions that minimize
the likelihood of reoccurrence. HR employees started enjoying greater
customer satisfaction and loyalty (chocolate gifts were unheard of before in
the HR Department). The future of the internal HR Department started to
look more secure. It was recognized that HR dared to measure themselves,
change and had been proactive. HR employees have originated a number of
improvement ideas, for example idea to utilize the Intranet to improve
efficiency of structured communication. They moved from being compliant to
committed employees. Reduction in throughput time, defect and rework are
among many elements that contribute to sizeable tangible cost savings from
improved processes. Intangible costs of poor quality have been recognized, for
example development of closer teamwork made internal communication more
effective and efficient. The implementation of the HR processes has supported
proactive behaviour and customer focus, and has aligned personal, team and
company goals around HR and business strategy. The core values and benefits
of continuous learning and the Six Sigma way of thinking have become
familiar and credible. Many sceptics recognized that Six Sigma could improve
service processes as well. The benefits of the culture of participative
management, teamwork and Six Sigma have been recognized in the wider
organization. This proactive approach has changed the perception in the
organization of HR, now that HR has created the model, and assumed the role
of coach, for the deployment of Six Sigma in the business. Conclusions The
deployment of Six Sigma in HR processes confirmed what we have already
seen in the last 6 years of implementation of Six Sigma in various
manufacturing processes: the strengths and simplicity of the methodology,
and enormous benefits for all business stakeholders, from suppliers,
employees, management . . . to customers and shareholders. A number of
similar issues in the implementation of Six Sigma in HR and manufacturing
processes have been identified, for example: importance of people issues in
management of change (e.g. fear of change, fear of being measured, not
dissatisfied with present, etc.); need to involve suppliers and customers;
benefits of clear definition of the process; effectiveness and simplicity of Six
Sigma tools; importance of effective and efficient CHART[copyright] data
collection system; importance of criteria for MOPs selection. But, above all,
that successful implementation of Six Sigma depends on leadership. Some
differences between the application of Six Sigma in manufacturing and HR
processes have been identified as well: lower initial credibility of Six Sigma in
HR; more difficult definition of process scope and higher impact of perceptual
elements; direct dealing with people can be more frustrating, but more
rewarding as well; high intangible cost of poor quality (e.g. recruitment of
false positive); less tangible measurements require more creative approach;
higher variety in customer requirements. The simplicity and effectiveness of
Six Sigma are, simultaneously, its strongest and weakest points. For example,
mismanagement of analysis results can easily create unbridgeable
implementation barriers. Leadership is one of the keys to successful
implementation of Six Sigma, a holistic, long-term continuous improvement
system, and the quality of leadership will have a profound effect on the level of
achieved results. Excellence is achieved by getting the right people to want to
do the right things in the right way. JSF 7th November 2006 From India,
Bangalore #Madanaulakh Dear JF, It was beyond what I had thought.
Excellent Precise To the ponit. Keep it up Madan :D :P 9th December 2006
#JSF35 Gentleman, Good to see ur comment U can download this article from
the following link.
http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/(cxe1gs45ipz1yw55p44lyg55)/app/ho
me/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,45,6
5;journal,17,49;linkingpublicationresults,1:100634 ,1 Thanks, JSF 11th
December 2006 From India, Bangalore #JSF35 SIX SIGMA, INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY AND YOU: CREATING A HAPPY CUSTOMER What is Six
Sigma? The term sigma is taken from a letter in the Greek alphabet and is
used in statistics as a measure of variation. Sigma measures the capability of a
process to perform defect-free work. With Six Sigma, the common
measurement index is "defects per unit," where a unit can be virtually
anything -- a component part, piece of material, a line of code, or time to
market. The sigma value indicates how often defects are likely to occur. As
sigma increases, cost and cycle time go clown while customer satisfaction goes
up. The fundamental objective of Six Sigma is customer satisfaction through
continuous improvement in quality. Six Sigma is the goal, which means
products and processes will experience only 3.4 defects per million
opportunities or 99.999966% good. To illustrate, if you played 100 rounds of
golf a year, and played at: 2 sigma -- you'd miss 6 putts per round 3 sigma --
you'd miss 1 putt per round 4 sigma -- you'd miss 1 putt every 9 rounds 5
sigma -- you'd miss 1 putt every 2.33 years 6 sigma -- you'd miss I putt every
163 years Using the Six Sigma initiative companies will focus on achieving
specific Primary Performance Drivers. These may include resource use,
technical advancement, risk management, speed to market technical
performance. The goal is for these Primary Performance Drivers to become
core competencies. How Does Six Sigma Work? Originally Six Sigma was for
the production floor, but some companies are implementing the process in all
departments. Other initiatives for measuring quality have traditionally
focused on the cost of quality, but with Six Sigma, the belief is that quality is
free, in that the more you work toward zero-defect production, the happier
customer and bigger return on investment you'll have. The Six Sigma
methodology allows all processes to be reduced to a common denominator--
defects per unit and sigma. By doing so, it provides organizations with a
common quality language crucial to measuring real quality gains and for
benchmarking one process, product, and practice against another. Because it
creates and institutionalizes this common quality language and goal, Six
Sigma significantly heightens quality awareness and provides a framework for
identifying and maintaining process improvements. Briefly, Six Sigma uses
the following general steps. Define. A quality team identifies a suitable project
based on business objectives, customer needs and feed back. The team
identifies Critical to Quality (CTQ) characteristics and items that will have an
impact on quality. Measure. The team identifies the key internal processes
that influence CTQs and measures the defects related to those processes.
Analyze. The team discovers why the defects are generated and identifies key
variables. Improve. The team confirms the key variables and quantifies their
effects on the CTQs. The team identifies the maximum acceptable ranges of
key variables and validates a system for measuring deviations and variables.
The team modifies the process to stay within the acceptable ranges. Control.
The tools are put in place to ensure the key variables remain within the
maximum acceptable ranges. Who Leads the Six Sigma Effort? As with any
major organizational effort, to succeed, Six Sigma must have buy in and
support at the highest corporate levels. Preferably, the initiative will not only
have executive-level support, but also a true executive suite "champion." In a
rapidly emerging trend, as companies have begun to understand and fully
embrace Six Sigma, they are creating executive level Six Sigma positions
responsible for overseeing role out of the initiative. At its core, though, Six
Sigma is really a grassroots-level managed initiative, driven in day-to-day
practice by production level workers and managers. A key element of the
methodology's success lies in the identification, training and placement of
"production level" Six Sigma experts, called Master Black Belts (MBB),
throughout the organization. The ideal MBB has a technical background,
understands basic statistics, and has application experience using problem
solving and quality tools. They need to be fully capable of independently
training and coaching other employees -- helping them achieve Master Black
Belt status, and providing strategic and tactical assistance to executive level
Six Sigma champions and management during the course of implementation.
The focus of MBB training is on the development of an in-depth
understanding of the Six Sigma philosophy, theory and application tactics.
These include advanced applications in the areas of descriptive statistics,
inferential statistics, non-parametric statistics, quantitative benchmarking,
process control techniques, process diagnostic methods and experiment
design, as well as organizational/group dynamics that will change process.
This knowledge is acquired to facilitate breakthrough improvement in key
processes. The ultimate goal is for Black Belts to accomplish the following.
Effectively develop and lead line-of-site or crossfunctional process
improvement teams; Work with, mentor, and advise middle management on
the formulation and subsequent implementation of process improvement
plans; and Coordinate with other Black Belts throughout the organization to
further the company's Six Sigma effort. Black Belts are encouraged to use the
Six Sigma methods, techniques procedures and tools that they have learned to
achieve successes within their respective units or divisions, and to share this
knowledge with their peers. What Is IT's Role in Six Sigma? Six Sigma literally
means reducing defects per million to 3.4 or 99.999966% good. There are two
challenges implicit in Six Sigma. The first, obviously, is to achieve the 3.4
defects per million goal. A second, and equally important, challenge is
maintaining Six Sigma once that defect goal is achieved. Information
technology (IT) plays a crucial role in helping companies meet both
challenges. Heavily driven by quantitative analysis and the assumption that all
processes must, to be efficient, be repeatable -- a lynch pin of Six Sigma is
process control and consistency. But how do you gain this consistency and
create control? The answer is through the integration of sophisticated, well-
tailored IT solutions into key processes. Take, for example, the product
development process. Today, an organization's product development
information is often scattered across many geographically separate R&D
facilities, in paper-based systems such as notebooks and files, or in isolated
stand-alone computer systems that are cumbersome or impossible to use
effectively. Product development knowledge that is crucial to creating a
controlled and consistent product development process is inaccessible,
unknown and unleveraged by the company. Skilled R&D, marketing and
manufacturing professionals, because they are isolated from each other and
unable to access and share this valuable intellectual asset store -- are forced to
constantly reinvent the wheel each time they create a new formula or product.
The result is an inconsistent and inefficient process prone to error.
Management has no consistent visibility into the product development
process, making it difficult to problem solve, do risk analyses and make
quality, strategic decisions. Fresh, potentially profitable market opportunities
go untapped -- because new products and technologies are either not
consistently developed -- or may be late to market. The integrity of R&D and
new product information are put at risk clue to the need for manual entry of
approved formula and product data. Through IT, companies can maximize the
performance of product development resources and bring them in-line with
Six Sigma. For example, at the beginning of a product development project,
Marketing creates a "profile" for a new product that includes all the aesthetic
and functional performance benefits the product must deliver. Those
requirements can be linked to technical parameters and specifications stored
in a centralized relational database. The database then links these parameters
to formulas that have been previously developed and tested. Rather than
spending hours, or in some cases days, searching through tab notebooks and
paper files, lab personnel can now instantaneously search all existing formulas
for one that satisfies the marketing profile requirements. They are able to
review all associated formula data and significantly advance the development
process in a matter of minutes. A guidelines and restrictions database saves
additional time and effort by enabling staff to ensure new formulas meet all
regulatory requirements and internal corporate policies. All laboratory work
adds value. The system also makes R&D and new product specification data
available enterprise wide, and provides sophisticated workflow management
tools that automate approval processes and notification of key staff. This
speeds the approval of new formula variations and eliminates the need to re-
conduct expensive testing programs -- saving both time and money and
accelerating speed-to-market. Approved formulas and product information
are accurately communicated to the manufacturing or enterprise resource
planning systems by a direct interface. Costly data entry errors are prevented
and complete, accurate bills of material are easily generated. As a result, costly
data entry errors that, in many cases may not be discovered until production is
under way, are prevented. Most importantly, an IT-driven product
development system creates, and puts in place, the crucial infrastructure
needed to effectively manage, in a controllable, consistent and repeatable
manner, the complex processes associated with product development --
enabling it to be successfully integrated into the greater corporate Six Sigma
effort. At the heart of this integration is a stage-gate process that companies
use to monitor the product development process and make go-no-go decisions
about the development of specific new product. The goal is to ensure the
efficiency of the product development process at its genesis, by green lighting
the bring-to-market development of only those new products with the highest
odds of success. Is Six Sigma Right for My Company? Six Sigma is, both from
an organizational and dollar standpoint, a significant investment. The
evidence, thus far, strongly suggests that for large companies, such as GE,
Dow and DuPont, the benefits of Six Sigma dramatically outweigh the costs.
GE has publicly stated that they expect to save more than $6 billion by way of
their Six Sigma initiative. For mid-sized companies, particularly those with a
healthy growth trajectory, Six Sigma's potential is also strong. Modest-growth
mid-tier companies, and smaller organizations, may still want to consider a
Six Sigma initiative, but before doing so should do a careful cost analysis. A
primary cost of Six Sigma is the personnel charge involved in identifying and
training Black Belts. Initially, because Six Sigma itself was so new, the supply
of available Six Sigma trainers was very limited, making training extremely
expensive. Today, numerous organizations, usually owned and staffed by
Black Belt-level veterans of the early Six Sigma efforts, exist. No matter what
the organization's size, the real question for any company considering Six
Sigma is this: ln today's increasingly competitive world economy, can you
afford not to be 99.999966% good? If you missed only one putt every 163
years, you'd not only beat Tiger Woods, but would achieve Six Sigma.
~~~~~~~~ By Stephen Phela, Senior Vice President and Co-Founder,
Formation Systems Inc., Westborough, MA read more at:
https://www.citehr.com/16983-six-sigma-methodology-hr-function-case-
study.html
The Role Of Human Resources (HR) In Six Sigma (Isixsigma.Com Ajmal
Mirza Service Sreenivasan Student - Hr Professional Rishabhshah Hr Student
- Soon To Be Professional Preethi.S.misser Hr Student +1 Other Thread
Started by #Sreenivasan❞Chances are you've heard of Six Sigma, perhaps in
connection with General Electric, the company that made it popular in the
1990s. You may even know that Six Sigma uses statistical techniques to
improve processes in both manufacturing and service industries. But did you
know there is an important role for Human Resources (HR) in this
sophisticated process improvement approach? Or that Six Sigma initiatives
are unlikely to succeed without HR's help? HR professionals with the right
skills can contribute to a Six Sigma initiative at both strategic and tactical
levels. This article describes the areas in which HR should play a role in Six
Sigma and discusses how HR professionals can increase their chances of being
included in Six Sigma decision-making and implementation. To appreciate the
important role HR has in Six Sigma, it is important to begin this discussion by
having an understanding of what Six Sigma is, all the roles played by others in
a Six Sigma implementation, and the factors critical to a successful
implementation. Six Sigma Defined The term "Six Sigma" is widely used to
refer to all of the following: A structured method for improving business
processes. This method, called DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve,
and control), is supported by an assortment of statistical tools. A statistical
measurement of how well a business process is performing. A process that
performs at "Six Sigma" produces only 3.4 defects out of every million
opportunities to produce a defect. Processes that perform at lower sigma levels
(such as one sigma or four sigma) produce more defects per million
opportunities. It is possible for a process to perform at an even higher level
(and thus have even fewer defects), but Six Sigma has become popular as the
standard for excellent process performance. An organizational mindset in
which people make decisions based on data, look for root causes of problems,
define defects based on customer rather than internal requirements, seek to
control variation, track leading indicators of problems to prevent them from
happening, etc. Six Sigma Roles Six Sigma has a martial arts convention for
naming many of its professional roles. The chart below describes how these
roles are typically defined. Table 1: Six Sigma Roles And Responsibilities
Sponsor Senior executive who sponsors the overall Six Sigma Initiative.
Leader Senior-level executive who is responsible for implementing Six Sigma
within the business. Champion Middle- or senior-level executive who sponsors
a specific Six Sigma project, ensuring that resources are available and cross-
functional issues are resolved. Black Belt Full-time professional who acts as a
team leader on Six Sigma projects. Typically has four to five weeks of
classroom training in methods, statistical tools, and (sometimes) team skills.
Master Black Belt Highly experienced and successful Black Belt who has
managed several projects and is an expert in Six Sigma methods/tools.
Responsible for coaching/mentoring/training Black Belts and for helping the
Six Sigma leader and Champions keep the initiative on track. Green Belt Part-
time professional who participates on a Black Belt project team or leads
smaller projects. Typically has two weeks of classroom training in methods
and basic statistical tools. Team Member Professional who has general
awareness of Six Sigma (through no formal training) and who brings relevant
experience or expertise to a particular project. Process Owner Professional
responsible for the business process that is the target of a Six Sigma project.
Leaders and Champions usually receive high-level training on the technical
aspects of Six Sigma and specific training on how to lead an initiative. At the
"Belt" level, each candidate is assigned an initial "training project" that he/she
will work on during the formal training period. Candidates attend classroom
training for a week, work on their projects for three weeks, return to class for
another week, and so on until they have acquired all the skills appropriate to
their role. HR's Role in Six Sigma As with any major organizational initiative,
many factors contribute to success. Some of these factors will fall within HR's
area of responsibility, such as those discussed below. Black Belt Selection and
Retention Having the right people in the Black Belt role is critical to the
success of a Six Sigma initiative. The training investment is substantial for this
pivotal role. Further, Black Belts are the visible "face" of Six Sigma. They help
shape the organization's impression of Six Sigma, and, consequently, the
willingness of many to embrace the initiative. Therefore, you want to pick
Black Belts very carefully. (Some organizations only select Black Belts from
among those who have already been identified as "high potentials."). HR
professionals can help the Six Sigma Leader find the right people for Black
Belt roles and ensure they remain in those positions for the typical two-year
rotation. Potential HR contributions in this area include: Building a
competency model that will help identify candidates with the right mix of
technical, team, and leadership skills and abilities. Creating job descriptions
that help candidates fully understand the position and expectations prior to
signing on. Developing a retention strategy that will help ensure Black Belts
complete their rotation and the organization recoups its investment in
training and development. Rewards and Recognition Rewarding and
recognizing Black Belts and Six Sigma teams is more complex than it may
appear. Black Belts join the Six Sigma initiative from various places in the
organization where they are likely to have been at different job levels with
differing compensation arrangements. Determining whether and how to make
appropriate adjustments in level and compensation now that all these
individuals are in the same role is both tricky and critical. Similar complexities
are involved at the project team level. Six Sigma projects led by Black Belts
typically result in savings in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Deciding
how the team should be rewarded and recognized and who should get credit
for what is not easy. Yet ignoring these issues can result in resentment,
reluctance to work on Six Sigma projects, and the potential failure of the
overall initiative. HR professionals can help the Six Sigma Leader tackle the
challenge of establishing the right rewards/recognition. Potential HR
contributions in this area include: Analyzing existing compensation
arrangements to identify the extent to which those arrangements will support
the Six Sigma initiative. Creating a strategic compensation plan that will better
support Six Sigma. Developing a non-monetary reward program for Six Sigma
teams. Project Team Effectiveness The work of Six Sigma is done mostly at the
project team level by a Black Belt leading a small team through the steps of the
DMAIC method. If the team itself does not function well or does not interact
effectively with others in the organization who ultimately have to support and
carry out the process changes, the project probably will not be successful.
Given the typical project's potential payback, failure can be expensive. HR
professionals can help the project teams work together more effectively.
Potential HR contributions in this area include: Ensuring team leaders and
members get training and/or coaching in teamwork, conflict management,
communications, dealing with difficult team members, and other team
effectiveness skills. Providing teams with tools that allow them to diagnose
their own performance and identify when and where they need help. Acting as
a resource for Black Belts who encounter team-related challenges they cannot
surmount. Creating a Six Sigma Culture Many Sponsors, Champions, and
Leaders look to Six Sigma as a way to change an organization's culture to one
that is more data-driven, proactive, decisive, and customer-oriented. But they
often have little idea about how to achieve successful culture change. HR
professionals can help executives approach culture change in a way that
addresses the underlying business goals without creating organizational
resistance. Potential HR contributions in this area include: Working with Six
Sigma Sponsors, Leaders, and Champions to identify elements of the culture
that might hinder the achievement of Six Sigma goals. Advising on change
plans that will target those specific cultural elements. Identifying how Six
Sigma can be rolled out in a way that works with, rather than against, the
current culture. Change Management and Communications Introducing Six
Sigma into an organization is a major change that will have a profound effect
on a broad group of stakeholders. Managers and employees at many levels of
the organization will be asked to engage in new behaviors. In many cases,
those leading other initiatives will see Six Sigma as a source of competition for
resources, executive attention, and organizational power. Others may see it as
an indictment of their past performance. Many will be confused about how Six
Sigma fits with the large number of other ongoing organizational initiatives.
HR professionals can help reduce the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding Six
Sigma and increase the levels of acceptance and cooperation in the
organization. Potential HR contributions in this area include: Drafting a
change management/ communications plan that addresses the people side of
the Six Sigma rollout. Helping create a "case for change" that describes: The
reasons for and benefits of Six Sigma. How the organization will help
employees succeed in new ways of working. How Six Sigma fits with other
ongoing initiatives. Counseling Six Sigma Leaders and Champions on how
their behavior can help or hinder Six Sigma's acceptance throughout the
organization. Being Included in Six Sigma Just because HR professionals can
play a role in the success of Six Sigma, it doesn't automatically follow that they
will be asked to participate. Unless you are in an organization that views HR
as a partner in all business initiatives, you may have to push to be included in
Six Sigma. HR can greatly increase its chances of being included in the Six
Sigma initiative by: Ensuring HR professionals have the right skills and
knowledge. Marketing its potential contribution early in the initiative. Gaining
the Right Skills and Knowledge In addition to HR/organizational
development-related areas, HR professionals need a familiarity with Six Sigma
itself. Without a basic knowledge of the DMAIC method, supporting tools,
roles, jargon, and even simple statistical methods, HR will not have the
credibility it needs to be considered a potential contributor to the initiative.
The time to get this knowledge is now. Even if your organization is not rolling
out--or even considering -- Six Sigma today, there are two reasons why it's
worth a HR professional's time to become familiar with the concepts now. If
the organization does decide to implement Six Sigma, there won't be enough
time to catch up. HR has to be involved at the very beginning of the initiative.
In addition, there are many applications of Six Sigma to HR's processes
themselves, e.g., the payroll process, benefits administration, selection, and
recruiting. HR might even consider setting an example for the rest of the
organization by adopting Six Sigma techniques to enhance its own processes.
Marketing HR's Potential Contribution The marketing challenge is twofold.
First, senior executives may not believe that the people issues are just as
critical to Six Sigma's success as are its many technical components. In that
case, HR will need to sell the importance of the people side. Second,
executives must perceive HR as being able to make a significant contribution
on the people side of Six Sigma. Besides ensuring that it has both the required
skills and knowledge described above, HR can also meet these challenges by:
Gathering data that supports the need for attention to the people side of Six
Sigma. Potential sources include Six Sigma publications, case studies,
conference sessions, and executives in companies that have already
implemented Six Sigma. Deriving lessons from previous organizational
initiatives in which people issues and/or HR actions played an acknowledged
role in success or failure. Meeting with senior executives to discuss their
business/Six Sigma goals and then identifying areas where HR could provide
very specific and measurable help. Speaking to Six Sigma Leaders and
Champions in the language of Six Sigma, not the language of HR. These
executives are typically interested in improving efficiency (i.e., internal cost)
and effectiveness (i.e., what the customer sees as "defects"). HR needs to
understand what the executives care about and pitch HR's services in relevant
terms. Taking the lead and applying Six Sigma successfully within the HR
function.. HR has a substantial role to play in the success of a Six Sigma
initiative. But it will have the opportunity to contribute only if its professionals
have the right skills and knowledge and are able to show Six Sigma executives
the value they can add. Gain those skills now and make sure senior leadership
knows how HR can help support the success of the initiative. Only then will
they realize they just can't do it without you! About The Authors Aon
Management Consulting/Rath & Strong's Vice President Mary Federico and
Senior Vice President Tom Thomson can be reached at for comment or
discussion about this article. For more information please visit
http://www.rathstrong.com. Copyright © 2000-2005 iSixSigma 29th June
2005 From India, Vadodara read more at: https://www.citehr.com/1919-role-
human-resources-hr-six-sigma-isixsigma.html