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One of the key innovations of Six Sigma is the professionalizing of quality management functions. Prior
to Six Sigma, Quality Management in practice was largely relegated to the production floor and to
statisticians in a separate quality department. Six Sigma borrows martial arts ranking terminology to
define a hierarchy (and career path) that cuts across all business functions and a promotion path
straight into the executive suite.
Six Sigma identifies several key roles for its successful implementation.
- Executive Leadership includes CEO and other key top management team members. They are
responsible for setting up a vision for Six Sigma implementation. They also empower the other
role holders with the freedom and resources to explore new ideas for breakthrough
improvements.
- Champions are responsible for the Six Sigma implementation across the organization in an
integrated manner. The Executive Leadership draws them from the upper management.
Champions also act as mentors to Black Belts. At GE this level of certification is now called
"Quality Leader".
- Master Black Belts, identified by champions, act as in-house expert coaches for the
organization on Six Sigma. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They assist champions
and guide Black Belts and Green Belts. Apart from the usual rigor of statistics, their time is
spent on ensuring integrated deployment of Six Sigma across various functions and
departments.
- Experts This level of skill is used primarily within Aerospace and Defense Business Sectors.
Experts work across company boundaries, improving services, processes, and products for their
suppliers, their entire campuses, and for their customers. Raytheon Incorporated was one of
the first companies to introduce Experts to their organizations. At Raytheon, Experts work not
only across multiple sites, but across business divisions, incorporating lessons learned
throughout the company.
- Black Belts operate under Master Black Belts to apply Six Sigma methodology to specific
projects. They devote 100% of their time to Six Sigma. They primarily focus on Six Sigma
project execution, whereas Champions and Master Black Belts focus on identifying
projects/functions for Six Sigma.
- Green Belts are the employeewho take up Six Sigma implementation along with their other job
responsibilities. They operate under the guidance of Black Belts and support them in achieving
the overall results.
- Yellow Belts are employees who have been trained in Six Sigma techniques as part of a
corporate-wide initiative, but have not completed a Six Sigma project and are not expected to
actively engage in quality improvement activities.
In many recent programs, Green Belts and Black Belts are empowered to initiate, expand, and lead
projects in their area of responsibility. The roles as defined above, therefore, conform to the older Mikel
Harry/Richard Schroeder model, which is not universally accepted.
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