Lean Six Sigma on Resume – Top Career Benefits

Professionals around the world are looking for ways to advance their career. These days there are so many options available that it could prove to be a very difficult decision to make. With the rapidly changing technologies, it could be a daunting task to invest in a skillset which might soon be replaced by technology.

But luckily, there are still some fundamentals skills that are unchanged. Skills like critical thinking, and striving to deliver more value to customers and companies, are always going to stay relevant. These skills along with a lot more, are crucial to employers. So, if you’ve been rounding up certifications that could help you enhance these meta skills and stumbled upon Lean Six Sigma certification, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog you will learn about how to get certified in lean six sigma. Read more to learn more!

We understand that you need to be absolutely sure before you choose to invest your time and money in a certification. That’s why we’ll try to help you get a clearer picture of how a Lean Six Sigma certification can add value to your resume. Read on to find out!

Table of Contents

1) What is Lean Six Sigma? 

   a) The Origins of Lean Six Sigma 

   b) Understanding Lean Six Sigma 

   c) So, How do Lean and Six Sigma Work Together? 

2) What are the Benefits of Lean Six Sigma? 

3) Let’s talk about the Lean Six Sigma Certification Levels

4) How Does Lean Six Sigma add value to your Resume? 

5) How Does Lean Six Sigma help Companies?

6) What are the Career Opportunities for Lean Six Sigma? 

   a) What are the Job roles for a Lean Six Sigma Certified Professional? 

   b) Now, How much can you get paid after getting Lean Six Sigma Certified? 

   c) Which companies are hiring Lean Six Sigma Professionals? 

7) Conclusion 

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Lean Six Sigma is a business management strategy that emphasises team effort to enhance team’s performance by removing waste. It combines the Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to remove eight kinds of waste. Before we discuss Lean Six Sigma any further, let’s talk about the origins of Lean and Six Sigma.  

The Origins of Lean Six Sigma 

Lean originated in Japan in the 1930s. A lot of research was carried out through the mid-20^th century and finally John Krafcik called it Lean for the first time in 1988. Six Sigma originated in the United States in 1986, to compete with the Lean model in Japan.  

Lean Six Sigma developed as a process under Six Sigma during the 2000s. It integrates ideas from Lean and Six Sigma. It was first published as a concept in 2001, developed to guide manufacturing plant managers on how to improve cycle time and quality in the plant. It was eventually implemented into other sectors as well.  

Understanding Lean Six Sigma 

Six Sigma is focused on reducing variation in processes and improving control. Lean removes waste and helps in standardising work. Over time organisations have realised the benefits of using Six Sigma and Lean together for better results. This integration of Lean and Six Sigma came to be called Lean Six Sigma. 

Lean Six Sigma is a data-driven, and fact-based improvement philosophy. It puts preventing defects over detecting them. It reduces waste, cycle time, and variation to drive better bottom-line results and customer satisfaction. It promotes standards for work which gives companies an edge over competition. Lean Six Sigma is applicable wherever waste or variation exist. Hence, every employee needs to be involved in the process.  

So, How do Lean and Six Sigma Work Together? 

Both Lean and Six Sigma offer customers the best delivery, cost, quality, and agility. The two have a lot of overlaps in their processes but they have a different approach to things. 

1) Six Sigma is focused on reducing variation while Lean focuses on reducing waste

2) Six Sigma uses hypothesis testing, statistical data analysis, and design of experiments, while Lean uses tools like kaizen, visual controls, and workplace organisation

The integration of Lean and Six Sigma starts with the Lean approach. The workplace is made more effective and efficient by reducing waste and implementing value stream maps. If the problems persist, more Six Sigma tools are brought into use.  

What are the Benefits of Lean Six Sigma? 

Let’s delve deeper into the advantages of Lean Six Sigma. 

Lean Six Sigma boosts profits 

1) Lean Six Sigma streamlines processes and helps reduce the workload. This makes the team more productive

2) When processes are streamlines, the speed of the process also increases

Lean Six Sigma reduces costs 

1) Lean Six Sigma reduces all the unnecessary activities from the process. This helps reduce costs and meeting customer expectations becomes cheaper 

2) It focuses on preventing defects by resolving all issues at the root

Lean Six Sigma enhances efficiency 

1) Lean Six Sigma makes processes scalable. This means your business can deliver more efficient results

2) It reallocates resources and revenue from the streamlined processes which means that nothing is wasted

Lean Six Sigma enhances effectiveness 

1) Lean Six Sigma helps define customers and in turn, identifying their needs. This enables you to focus your efforts at the crucial aspects of the process

2) It measures and improves the stuff customers care about. This way you can specifically target the areas that need improvement for better customer satisfaction

Lean Six Sigma helps building effective teams 

1) With Lean Six Sigma, employees own the process changes. They are involved in solving problems. This builds teams that are better motivated

2) It builds transparency across the organisation. This drives respect and understanding amongst employees

Let’s Talk about the Lean Six Sigma Certification Levels

The Lean Six Sigma certification is offered at six different levels which are also referred to as belts.  

1) Yellow Belt: The Yellow Belt certification validates your knowledge of the basic concepts and tools of Six Sigma. The training is between 10-15 hours. 

2) Green Belt: The Green Belt certification teaches you how to apply your knowledge. You will be trained in Lean Six Sigma processes and basic statistical tools. The training period is usually a little short of 100 hours. 

3) Master Black Belt: The Master Black Belt certification will validate your advanced knowledge of Lean Six Sigma concepts, skills, and tools. With this certification, you will be ready to develop business strategies. Master Black Belts usually also impart training to black and green belt professionals. 

4) Black Belt: The Black Belt certification makes you an expert in Six Sigma tools, concepts, and team leadership. With the certification you are eligible to lead Lean Six Sigma teams and projects. They also coach professionals training for the other Lean Six Sigma belts.

How does Lean Six Sigma add value to your Resume?

The job market is fiercely competitive today. While there are a lot of job vacancies for skilled professionals, there are a lot of applicants as well. Companies can’t comprehensively go through each application so they keep an eye out for applications that stand out. This is why professionals around the world are always working towards giving an edge to their job application.  

Adding Lean Six Sigma can provide this edge to your application and make it look crisper. Additionally, it makes your profile eligible for various high profile job roles like process engineer, project manager, etc. Many organisations look out for Lean Six Sigma certification when choosing candidates for leadership roles.  

Let’s look at how a Lean Six Sigma certification could benefit you. 

1) Help reduce risk and waste 
A Lean Six Sigma certification can help you reduce risks for your organisation and Lean’s waste removal policy will help make sure there’s minimum wastage during projects. This will help save valuable time and resources. 

2) Improve business activities and management 
With Lean Six Sigma, you’ll learn how to improve business activities and make them efficient. You can survey the business practices and validate how they impact the business. Once you have a clear picture of what works and what doesn’t, you can apply measure to improve. 

3) Increase value  
Candidates with a Lean Six Sigma certification are known to be good problem-solvers. They can quickly resolve issues and make sure the business runs smoothly. This is something that companies highly value. Couple that with their ability to reduce risks, increase profit, and streamline processes, and you’ll know why employers look for Lean Six Sigma certified professionals. 

4) Managerial roles 
You get to improve your management and leadership skills along with risk-management and team-building. Employers highly value these skills in candidates and this improves your chances of landing a managerial role. 

5) Higher salary 
Once you’re Lean Six Sigma certified, you can start asking for higher pay. We’ll talk about salary details further ahead in the blog.  

How does Lean Six Sigma help Companies? 

Now that we know how Lean Six Sigma could add value to your resume, it’s also important to know how does it help the companies. The major components of a Lean Six Sigma process are a focus on strategy and planning, development and learning, analysis and selection, coaching and implementation, and information management. Getting a Lean Six Sigma certification would validate your skill in all these components. Let’s look at how it benefits companies: 

1) Customer loyalty and satisfaction 
By implementing the Lean Six Sigma practices, companies can improve their processes and quality. This means customers would get better quality products and services, which makes customers happy and keeps them coming back for more. 

2) Employee satisfaction 
The great thing about Lean Six Sigma is how it can bring people under a common goal. Leaders are responsible to streamline messages with great clarity. Better results can also bring employees together and motivate them to do better as a team. 

3) Better feedback 
When customers are happy, your market reputation increases with positive word-of-mouth. This brings you more customers while also retaining the old ones. Your revenue increase and your market value. 

4) Better partnerships 
If your company is doing well, other companies associated with your company will acknowledge it too. This leads to better partnerships among companies.  

What are the career opportunities for Lean Six Sigma? 

Lean Six Sigma certification provides you an edge on the competition and trains you for leadership positions. Professionals also learn analytical abilities and business processes which open doors for better jobs and opportunities. Lean Six Sigma certified professionals can role in middle to top management, eventually rising across senior managerial positions. They can apply to several industries like Telecom, IT, Automobiles, Aerospace, and many more.
 

What are the job roles for a Lean Six Sigma Certified Professional? 

Professionals with a Lean Six Sigma certification could apply for the following job roles: 

A) Team Leader 

B) Project Manager 

C) Senior Project Manager 

D) Business Consultant 

E) Business Analyst 

F) Operations Specialist 

G) Lead Engineer 

H) Quality Assurance Manager 

I) Process Analyst 

J) Process Engineer 

Now, How much can you get paid after getting a Lean Six Sigma Certification? 

We’ve already talked about the higher salary that with your Lean Six Sigma certification. Now, let’s look at some real numbers.
 

Which Companies are Hiring Lean Six Sigma, Certified Professionals? 

A few companies that are hiring Lean Six Sigma certified professionals are listed below: 

A) Capgemini 

B) AkzoNobel 

C) ASL 

D) Thomson Reuters 

E) Xerox 

F) Motorola 

Conclusion 

Adding a Lean Six Sigma certification can add a lot of value to your resume. It adds a lot of scope and opportunities to your career. You can apply to jobs in various sectors and laterally move up the ladder. LSS professionals are highly valued at organisations as we’ve already discussed. So, if you want to add a Lean Six Sigma certification to your resume, enrol in our Lean Six Sigma certification courses today!