Six Sigma in HR – Value Proposition of the People

Bradley Savoy May 11, 2007

You’ve probably heard of Six Sigma. Popularized by Motorola and General Electric back in the 80’s and 90’s, Six Sigma can act as a key way to improve efficiencies and have a significant financial impact to an organization.

Human Resources can play a role in not only the adoption of Six Sigma into the company culture but also a more significant one applying Six Sigma into their own business function.

So what is Six Sigma? It’s a systematic methodology that provides companies with the tools to improve the capability of their business processes through a shift in the organizational mindset in which people make objective decisions based on data, and the voice of the customers they serve.

Essentially Six Sigma can drive efficiencies in process and enable significant cost reductions through the control of variation and removal of any defects in processes.

Organizations struggle with the inclusion of HR into a rollout of Six Sigma. In some cases the role of HR is reverted to selection and retention initiatives of the various roles of Six Sigma (Master Black Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt, etc.) Yes Six Sigma uses the martial arts as a naming convention, but you don’t get to break any boards in these projects. Other areas HR gets involved in are communication and training of the program, change management, or other traditional HR roles.

There is so much more that can be done, and so many great impacts HR can have in the rollout of Six Sigma. We all aspire to having HR viewed as a strategic partner in major business initiatives. Unfortunately we don’t always live in that world, so we need to create it. HR needs to make a business case to be included in Six Sigma.

The main ways to do this are to ensure your HR department is trained in the same fundamental knowledge of Six Sigma as the rest of the company. Then you need to make sure that you market the contribution your HR department can make through Six Sigma. This is usually driven form the people aspect of the business, and the results can be significant.

For companies like General Electric and Ford; Six Sigma was used to improve recruiting processes, benefits design, and to address retention. Personally, I’ve been involved as either a champion or Green Belt on a number of Six Sigma projects related to staffing, such as:
- Improving Hiring Manager satisfaction and quality of hire
- Reduction of search firm spend
- Time to fill projects
- Recruiter Training
- Career Pathing
- and Employment Brand development

We’re talking about Millions of dollars in savings, or substantial improvements in processes from the initiatives mentioned above. In addition these types of projects get HR involved with the businesses they serve, working with their executives to realize value through the people side of their organization.

HR needs to be involved in the rollout of Six Sigma at the strategic level. Six Sigma is one of the most powerful tools I’ve seen to ensure that HR has a seat at the management table, and enables HR to move from activity measurement to ensuring strategic business goals are realized. HR’s involvement in the actual project improvements of Six Sigma will ensure that your companies rollout impacts the most important value proposition….That of your people.

Posted in Human Resources Analytics, HR Metrics, HR Consulting, Human Resources, Recruiting, Six Sigma and HR, Workforce Management