Six Sigma Certification

We discussing the significance of verifying whether a certification ensure that the candidate has the knowledge and experience to carry what the organization does or wants to do.

But maybe a bigger question is, "Is a certificate even necessary?"

Does certification actually matter to your organization? If the certification is used as a confirmation of a person's entry-level knowledge or ability based on some acknowledged BOK within your industry, then maybe.

Otherwise, just because people passed a test doesn't mean they really know how to apply what they've learned.

The reverse is also true. We've seen folks who aren't "certified" to recognized Six Sigma programs, but who've developed a very high knowledge base. Just look at the authors of the early Six Sigma books that came into the market three to five years ago, none of them were "certified" by today's principles.

What does all this mean? It means that the paper is only as good as the body of knowledge and experience following it.

With the absolute number of possible certification methods available today (any Web search will give up hundreds of sites), it's a real challenge for managers, human resource staff and practitioners to decide what action they should take when hire or give training.

So , this page presents explanation on important items that apply to Six Sigma certification.

The value of  any certificate starts with a management evaluation of what skills are needed to meet customer needs.

As more companies hear about Six Sigma, the need to hire and train employees in the methodology grows.

Your organization may choose to only interview candidates from certain companies or whose certificate is from a confident organization based on long-ago positive experiences .

There are a variety of programs on the market.  , Questions that should be asked of any certification body include:

• How long has the program been in existence?

• How is the training material updated?

• How are certificate holders re-evaluated to ensure that they maintain a certain level of expertise?

• How often is the certification process itself evaluated and updated to meet growing trends?

No one particular industry or organization controls the BOK of Six Sigma. This has allowed many specialized organizations and a wide array of consultants to personalize the methodology with their own particular twist, such as process Six Sigma, transactional Six Sigma, lean Six Sigma and so on.

Six Sigma Certification Bodies :

1-  ASQ six sigma certification team periodically resurveys the field to watch for change in the process that may need an update of its BOK. For other organization, change may or may not occur during the life of the certification process.

Many studies were conducted by the ASQ to ensure that its BOK offered a wide coverage for the exam base at the time of development. The current ASQ BOK for its Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) program can be found on the Internet at Here.

The model of its certification procedure is the ASQ Associate Membership process that was developed many years ago to identify masters in the quality occupation; it's still a highly preferred membership level today. Less than 1 percent of ASQ's membership is at the Associate level.

2-  The Institute of Advanced Business Learning Systems Inc. (IABLS )offers one of the newer nonprofit organizational certifications that go beyond a simple exam.

IABLS certification uses a evaluate  process of the applicant credentials to confirm that they've reached the particular level of desired skill and knowledge to be considered a Green, Black or Master Black Belt.

Applicant must submit their experience in the area of technical experience, work-related positions and training received.

The information they provide is verified and qualified against the state criteria. They then go through a double interview by Six Sigma practitioners to verify their understanding of the methodology. This procedure moves further into the area of validation and verification of a candidate's background and understanding than a simple exam.

3-  Black Belt certification from the International Quality Federation, (IQF) need that the applicant must pass a precise examination targeted at scientific knowledge. In addition, to obtain Master Black Belt grade, the candidate must give proof of train and leading Black Belt projects. Green Belt grade just requires passing the examination.

4- ExpertRating online certificate : Log in to your ExpertRating account using your password. Go through the Six Sigma Courseware (which could take you from 1 week to a month depending upon how hard you work & your level of experience) and take the certification exam at your convenience. You can take the exam within 1 year of buying the certification. The result of the exam appears as soon as it is completed, and your certificate is mailed immediately.

Before Choose Six Sigma Certification Body :

If you do decide to hire outside trainers, please remember to share with them your organizational goals and requirements evaluation to help ensure that your staff are educated useful information in a suitable manner.

Otherwise, they may try to retrain your staff in tools or techniques that they may already know, or worse, they may teach different applications of   Six Sigma tools because of different business practices.

If applicant have a Six Sigma Certification , does it have any value? If not, how does your organization confirm employees' Six Sigma skills? Once you get further than the marketing publicity of Six Sigma, what will really help your organization eliminate or even prevent problems?

These questions and many more based on your exacting needs should be addressed as you evaluate what you and your organization will accept as qualified certification.

1-  Understand your needs

Whether you decide to grow your own Six Sigma practitioners or hire from the outside, management must recognize the role that it wants Six Sigma to participate in the organization.

Just state in a job posting that a person must be Six Sigma-certified is worthless unless the organization knows what it really needs.

The first step in any good Six Sigma program should be a needs appraisal of the organization.

Management must understand the skills that current or future employees have or should have and then evaluate  the gap between the organization's goals and its use of Six Sigma. Some of the questions that should be asked:

• What linked tools and techniques does the organization at present use?

• How well do present employees really know how to use these tools and techniques? Should prospect employees know these techniques as well?

• What depth of understanding Six Sigma deployment (e.g., methodology, team building, change management, voice of the customer, cost of poor quality, etc.) should each employee have?

This includes top management, middle management, engineers, staff workers (especially human resources and accounting), and general workers.

• What in-house resources already exist to teach any of the required tools, techniques or methodologies?

• Are there any specific industry requirements that should be considered before your organization implements Six Sigma?

2-  What's behind a certificate?

Once you understand your requirements, you'll have a better plan of what to look for from a potential Six Sigma-certificated employee.

In the same way, if you're looking to hire an outside association to train your staff and issue a certificate, you'll have a better understanding of what kind of knowledge and experience that certificate should promise.

Someone claim certification to some level of Six Sigma (Champion, Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt, Master Black Belt, etc.) is probably referencing a test that he or she passed to demonstrate his or her understanding of the suitable level of Six Sigma theory (e.g., the ASQ-certified Six Sigma Black Belt or International Quality Federation programs).

Many consultants, universities and professional organizations use these exams to verify that examiners understand the material from the training process.

Many organizations (e.g., GE, Honeywell, Motorola, Ford, etc.) have also established Six Sigma certification programs that indicate the performance level gained while working on Six Sigma projects.

Evaluate  the program you're considering to understand its (BOK) body of knowledge and how the issuing organization's process is maintain. In all cases , will the certification process meet the requirements of your customers to provide defect-free products and services in the future? There are many good, fair and poor programs out there for certifying people in Six Sigma, and the cost varies very much.