Lean Six Sigma Certification

Lean Six Sigma Certification is an approach in management to improve business performance. Earlier, there were two individual specialisms known as Lean and Six Sigma. The Lean Six Sigma approach or certification has blended these two specialisms into one. Basically, the Lean Six Sigma Certification is a proof of your abilities to lead complex and difficult projects. It is one of those certifications that are widely regarded as the kind of training they provide and also because of the value that they get in the market. The International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC) is one such body that provides this certification to professionals worldwide. When one completes this certification, he is called an IASSC certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. This designation simply tells the world that you are very well-versed in the Lean Six Sigma Methodology. It tells others that you lead complex improvement projects and that too, in a full-time capacity. There are some subject matters defined by the IASSC Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge. These subject matters are contained within the phases of Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control or simply DMAIC. A Lean Six Sigma Black Belt possesses a very high level of competence in these subject matters. He also possesses a thorough understanding of all the aspects of Lean Six Sigma Method. When you have this certification on your resume, it tells the world that you are somebody who understands how to implement, interpret, apply and perform the Lean Six Sigma methodologies at a very high level of proficiency.

Who should do this?

The spectrum of a Lean Six Sigma certification is not limited to a particular job or profession. In fact, this certification is made up for all those professionals who want to improve their leadership qualities in terms of projects. There is no one profession that should especially do this certification. All the professionals who wish to improve the business performance of their organization as well as at an individual level should do this. This certification brings to the professionals the kind of value and importance that they have always been looking for in their organization. In fact, more and more organizations are starting to value the Lean Six Sigma certified professionals with each passing day. The professionals who have this certification are valued more than the ones who do not have this. Organizations throughout the world have begun to hire the professionals with this certification. It is believed that the business performance of the organization is directly proportional to the number of the Lean Six Sigma Certified professionals in the organization. There are many job profiles that are especially valued with this certification. Some of these are Manufacturing Engineer, IT manager, Operations manager, project engineer etc. However, the list does not end here. As already mentioned above, there is no specific list of the job profiles that should look to do this certification. Actually, it depends on the needs of the profile as well as the organization.

How is this helpful?

There are hundreds of benefits of getting a Lean Six Sigma Certification. There are many reasons for which a professional can consider getting this certification. Some of them are as follows:

1. You can help your organization eliminate errors

When you get this certification, you become a valuable resource to the organization which you work for. If we see from an organization’s perspective, the Lean Six Sigma certified individual is someone who can demonstrate uninterrupted efforts and gain excellent stable process results. Such individuals are valued because these process results are very valuable to the organization’s overall development and improvement. It is the individuals working at a place that makes an organization. Therefore, the individuals who are certified by the Lean Six Sigma are very crucial and significant for the organization’s overall ability to eliminate errors and make sure that they do not happen again and again. So, when you get certified with a certification like this, you help the organization a lot. When you eliminate the errors, you enable the organization to generate more revenue.

2. Help the organization reach the required level of Quality improvement.

This certification enables the professionals to achieve the level of quality improvement that is required for the benefit of an organization. So, this is another of the many benefits that the organization gets and enjoys from you if you are a Lean Six Sigma certified professional. The kind of sustained quality improvement level that the certified professionals can get for the organization is something that is particularly required in an organizational setup. The professionals who are certified with this are experts at ensuring that there is sustained quality improvement level. They can make sure that there is little or no deviation from the mean and also take measures corrective in nature to make amends in a project that may be straying from the path.

3. Help your organization in improving business processes.

This is one of the most important and most obvious benefits that the organization enjoys from the Lean Six Sigma certified professionals. Once you have gained this certification, you are well equipped with the knowledge that one needs to take into account for identifying the most important characteristics of an organization’s manufacturing and business processes and at the same time, also be able to control, measure and improve them. These skills are very valued by an organization.

Moreover, during the Assignment of this certification, you will learn how to conduct a clear and complete review of the current practices of an organization and estimate their impact on the quality performance.

4. Employment prospects across different industries

If you are Lean Six Sigma certified, you can easily find gainful and amazing employment in a wide range of industries. Such certified individuals are valued in almost every industry today. Therefore, when you complete this certification, the chances of you getting a beneficial and good job are improved drastically. You will find that there is a huge range of industries that you can find jobs in. From Investment Banking to Information Technology, Security to Healthcare, Finance to Automotive Manufacturing and what not… you will be able to find jobs everywhere. The demand for certified quality professionals is very high across different sectors and industries today. So, another benefit of getting this certification is that your career and employment prospects are improved drastically once you complete this.

5. You can ensure compliance

Another benefit of this certification is that once you complete this certification, you know enough to make sure that the organization you work for comply with the significant and important standards like the Six Sigma standards. With the amazing quality of the Six Sigma standards, the errors in manufacturing and process come down to almost insignificant and negligible values. Due to this reason, more and more organizations today apply the Six Sigma standards when they evaluate accounts or different products. Therefore, when you have certified with Lean Six Sigma, you become very valuable to the organization. You can help the organization comply with all the international standards. Your value increases even more as complying with these international standards means maintaining profitable contracts, which is something that all the organization's vale a lot.

6. You get excellent salary packages

Getting this certification doesn’t just bring value and importance to you. It brings enormous pay packages as well. As already mentioned above a couple of times, the professionals who have this certification are valued more and preferred more than the professionals who do not have this, therefore, this results in high pay packages for the certified individuals. A high pay package is a very first thing that almost all the professionals expect from their profession. Therefore, this is one of the most important benefits that one enjoys from this certification. According to a survey carried out in the United States of America, the pay packages of the Lean Six Sigma Certification holders can reach as high as up to $117,000 per year. These certified professionals are among the highest-paid professionals in the entire world.

7. It improves your chances of being promoted

When you mention this certification in your CV, it tells the entire world that you are brilliant at what you do. Anny certification is a validation of the person’s abilities and skills. But this certification is also a proof of the efficiency of the skills of the professional. It tells the organization that the person is absolutely committed to what he does. Because if he is not committed, there can be no other reason for him to bear everything and get certified. Thus, the certified professionals are nothing short of assets for the organization and therefore, the promotions come in the way very quickly.

How to prepare for this?

The Lean Six Sigma certification exams are very rigorous in nature. One needs to be very well disciplined to get through it. People study for months and still fail. There is only one reason behind this. They do not prepare the right way. Although, there is no ideal method for passing this exam, there are certain things that the candidate needs to resort to if he wants to pass this exam. Some of them are:

1. Prepare a schedule

It is very important for a candidate to prepare a schedule and follow it in order to pass an exam. A schedule is one of the most important things that need to be done in order to gain success in an exam. Moreover, the candidate should keep in mind that he needs to prepare a reasonable schedule keeping the exam and the other tasks he needs to do in the day in mind. Many times, the candidates prepare schedules that remain on the paper only and never realised because of the unreasonable number of study hours put into it.

2. Discipline

This is something that everybody knows is important to gain success in an exam and still, almost everybody fails at implementing this. One needs to be very well disciplined in order to gain success in an exam. It is not just enough to prepare a schedule, one needs to stick to it as well. One needs to be very well disciplined and follow everything that he has prepared in the schedule. Also, it is not just about the schedule. There are many things that will distract you during the Assignment of your preparation, but you need to be focused.

3. Online practice exams

This is one of the most important things that one needs to do to excel in an exam. It is important because when you take mock online exams, you get to understand the exact format and pattern of the exam. You get to know where you actually stand in terms of preparation and how much you need to prepare to excel. You become well aware of the kind of questions that are asked in the exam. This helps you a lot.

How are the exams conducted?

The Lean Six Sigma certifications are provided at different levels and the exams are also different. The certifications are provided at three levels. These are: Yellow belt, Green Belt and the last one is Black Belt. The different exams are conducted as follows:

1. Yellow Belt

The exam for the yellow belt level contains sixty questions in total. The duration of the exam is 2 hours. The passing percentage is 70 percent.

2. Green Belt

The exam for the green belt level contains a hundred questions in total. The duration of the exam is three hours. The passing percentage of this exam is also 70 percent.

3. Black Belt

The exam for the black belt level contains 150 questions in total. The duration of this exam is four hours. The passing percentage of this exam is also seventy percent.

All the exams are available in English. However, the IASSC certified Green Belt exams are also available in French. All of these exams are closed book exams. The candidates are not allowed to carry anything inside the exam hall. However, the IASSC provides a reference document to every student. This document contains all the formulas and tables one needs during the exam.