HR SIX SIGMA

Understanding the role of HR in Six

Sigma
UNDERSTANDING SIX SIGMA
Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally
developed by Bill Smith at Motorola, USA in 1981.
Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by
identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and
minimizing variability in manufacturing and business
processes.
 It uses a set of quality management methods, including
statistical methods and creates a special infrastructure of
people within the organization ("Black Belts", "Green Belts",
etc.) who are experts in these methods.
Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization
follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified
financial targets (cost reduction or profit increase).
SIX SIGMA DOCTRINE
Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable
process results are of vital importance to business
success.
Manufacturing and business processes have
characteristics that can be measured, analyzed,
improved and controlled.
Achieving sustained quality improvement requires
commitment from the entire organization, particularly
from top-level management
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF SIX
SIGMA
A clear focus on achieving measurable and
quantifiable financial returns from any Six Sigma
project.
An increased emphasis on strong and passionate
management leadership and support.
A special infrastructure of "Champions," "Master
Black Belts," "Black Belts," "Green Belts", etc. to lead
and implement the Six Sigma approach.
A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis
of verifiable data, rather than assumptions and
guesswork.
METHODS
DMAIC
 Define the problem, the voice
of the customer, and the project
goals, specifically.
 Measure key aspects of the
current process and collect
relevant data.
 Analyze the data to investigate
and verify cause-and-effect
relationships.
 Improve or optimize the current
process based upon data
analysis.
 Control the future state process
to ensure that any deviations
from target are corrected before
DMADV
Define goals that are consistent with
customer demands and the company
strategy.
Measure and identify CTQs (Critical
To Quality), product capabilities,
production process capability, and
risks.
Analyze to develop and design
alternatives, create a high-level design
and evaluate design capability to
select the best design.
Design details, optimize the design,
and plan for design verification.
Verify the design, set up pilot runs,
implement the production process and
hand it over to the process owner(s).
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.  
Master Black Belt Highly experienced and successful Black Belt who has
managed several projects and is an expert in Six Sigma methods/tools. 
Green Belt Part-time professional who participates on a Black Belt project
team or leads smaller projects.  
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.   
ROLE OF HR

Black Belt selection and retention

Rewards and recognition
Project team effectiveness
Creating a Six Sigma culture
Change Management and Communications
LIMITATIONS OF SIX SIGMA
Lack of originality
Role of consultants
Potential negative effects
Based on arbitrary standards
Criticism of the 1.5 sigma shift
INDUSTRY EXAMPLES
General Electric (GE
Transportation Services)
Main objective- to infuse quality in
every corner.
Increase in earnings in the year
2000 despite lower revenues.
New and improved value added
services such as optimized
maintenance requirements, satellite
tracking of locomotives, logistics
planning, etc.
Reduction in the cost of goods and
services sold due to high
productivity and automation gains.
Dow Chemicals
Main objective- An affordable
statistical software that would work
under windows and would meet
95% needs of the people, 95% of
the time.
Achieved business excellence with
the help of newly launched “JMP”.
JMP turned out to be the path
breaking technology for data
miners, R & D and Dow’s
automotive industry (Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard 201U).
DuPont
 Main objective- To become
leaner and more customer
friendly.
 Company target of around 12%
is likely to be achieved.
 Improved productivity.
 Targeted development- A new
practice that strives towards
continuous development of
employees’ capacities to add
more value to the organization
and increase personal job
satisfaction.
 Improved marketing strategies.
Samsung
 Main objective- Quality
oriented management in
business operations.
 Major breakthrough in the field
of supply chain management.
 High quality and innovative
products.
 Increase in customer
satisfaction and overall profit.
 Well established HR
framework.

Honeywell
Main objective- Fresh ideas and
customer satisfaction.
Ideology followed- “Do it right
the first time.”
Special tools like Activity Based
Management achieve just about
the necessary product price to
meet customer price
expectation.
Customer satisfaction achieved
through Pareto charts, root
cause analysis, control charts,
etc.
Starwood Hotels and
Resorts Worldwide
Main objective- Operational
innovation and process
improvement.
First hospitality company to
deploy Six Sigma.
Six Sigma applied across all
departments irrespective of the
size and nature of the problem.
3 main agenda achieved- Guest
Satisfaction Index, increasing
revenue and controlling costs.
Improved methods of retention
and rewards.