How Six Sigma can be used to develop people

We all know the business benefits of using Six Sigma. What we don’t know is that it can also be used to develop people. The methodology has two main stages, Six Sigma training, and Six Sigma projects.

Involving your workers also implies that you are empowering them

When the two are used together, then the chances are great that is the positive result will be achieved. The two methods can be used to bring about not only financial gains but also personal developmental growth.

In terms of human development, Six Sigma can contribute to the general knowledge, confidence, and quality of the people in an organization or company. For a long time now, companies have realized that their employees are their biggest asset, which is why billions of dollars are being spent on personnel training and development each year. Even with that, developing them has still presented challenges in several areas.

This is where Lean Six Sigma comes into play. It is designed to help an organization in two major ways; first is to develop the workers into future leaders and second is to empower them to be both knowledgeable and contribute value to their company or organization. If an organization lacks workers with leadership skills, the organization can only go one way and that is downward. It is for this reason that Six Sigma should be taught to all employees of the company, from the normal workers to the executives. Six Sigma has opened up several management and leadership opportunities that weren't there before.

Six Sigma has for over a decade now trained individuals in different fields to become leaders in their fields and contribute towards the success of their organization. Their training levels are stocked with challenges and awards like the belts that will ensure that only the best are allowed to manage teams.

Defining the belts, an individual with a green belt signifies that he/she has completed two weeks of training on the Six Sigma roadmap and essential elements of statistical methodologies supporting Six Sigma project and is now a member of the Six Sigma process improvement team. For the black belt, the individual must have completed four weeks of training focusing on the Six Sigma Roadmap and extensive statistical methodologies, thus becoming very experienced in leading cross-functional process improvement teams before being awarded the belt.

Even though Six Sigma was built with leadership in mind, it knows that it is not possible for everyone to become a leader, which is why they have also placed great emphasis on the normal employees. Six Sigma is so special that it doesn’t care who identifies the problem or who solves it, so long as the company improves. This is because the methodology supports teamwork more than any other thing.

The involvement in the problem solving of an organization can only happen if all employees are being tasked to improve in whatever they do. Six Sigma believes that it is very crucial that every employee is actively involved in the company’s activities and contributes to the problem-solving situation. Creativity is what Six Sigma encourages and they encourage the workers to know something that their superiors don’t. This will ensure that quality is being infused into their products and services.

Involving your workers also implies that you are empowering them. As a data-driven methodology, results are what matter the most in Six Sigma and improvement can only be achieved if everyone is involved. Since the whole employees are working as a team, the level of trust will increase. This will ultimately lead to an increased level of productivity.

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