Six Sigma in HR

Six sigma & HR

• What should I measure?
• What is the purpose of the HR function or sub function?
• What are the expected deliverables(people , skills , services , value ,
reports)?
• What are the measures of goodness of key deliverables?
• What are the error opportunities for key deliverables?
• What are the improvement opportunities are carried out by the HR
function?

• Outcomes
• Reduction in overtime
• Reduction in time
• Cost to hire an employee
• Reduction in safety violations
• Reduction of employee separation
 What is six sigma?
• Six Sigma is the methodology that combines the gradual &
continuous improvement & promotes radical design . It is a
statistical tool used for problem solving which reduces the defects
by streamlining various processes.
• A structured method for improving business processes. This method,
called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control), is
supported by an assortment of statistical tools.
• An organizational mindset in which people make decisions based on
data, look for root causes of problems, define defects based on
customer rather than internal requirements, seek to control
variation, track leading indicators of problems to prevent them from
happening, etc.
• Sigma is the Greek letter representing the standard deviation of a
population of data.
• It ensures value enrichment of the products or services for the
customers.
• It is aimed at stimulating each employees to care about accuracy.
• HR professionals with the right skills can contribute to a Six Sigma
initiative at both strategic and tactical levels
Six Sigma versus TQM
Six Sigma TQM

Executive ownership Self directed work teams

Business strategy execution system Quality initiative

Truly cross functional Largely within a single function

Focused training with a verifiable return No mass training in statistics &

on investment quality with return on investment

Business result oriented Quality oriented

 Tools of six Sigma
No Phase Tools used

1 Define Team charter

Knowing the voice of the customer

2 Measure SIPOC-Supplier-Input-Process-Output-Customer
Data collection
Rejection Trends
Rejection Cost
Defect Matrix
Measurement system analysis
3 Analyze Root cause analysis
Pareto analysis

4 Improve Action Plan

5 Control Training of the workforce

Selection and Retention in Six
Sigma
• Potential HR contributions in this area include:
• Building a competency model that will help identify
candidates with the right mix of technical, team, and
leadership skills and abilities.

• Creating job descriptions that help candidates fully

understand the position and expectations prior to signing on.

• Developing a retention strategy that will help ensure Black

Belts complete their rotation and the organization recoups its
investment in training and development.
What it means to be @ Six Sigma
99.99966% Good – At 6s
Is 99% (3.8s) good enough?

20,000 lost mails per hour 7 lost mails per hour

Unsafe drinking water almost One minute of unsafe

15 minutes each day drinking water every seven
months

5,000 incorrect surgical 1.7 incorrect surgical

operations per week operations per week

2 short or long landings at most One short or long landing at

major airports daily major airports every five years

200,000 wrong drug prescriptions 68 wrong drug prescriptions each

each year year
 Why should HR encourage Six Sigma and Lean in the
organization?

 Builds Team Building Competency

 Creates a learning culture

 Develops Coaching and Mentoring skills

 Improves presentation and training skills

 Improves Project Management skills

 Encourages Statistical Thinking

 Opportunity to set challenging targets

 Creates cross functional awareness / competency building

 Motivation through awards and recognition

 Encourages sharing and learning between strategic business units.

Right rewards & recognition
• HR professionals can help the Six Sigma Leader tackle the
challenge of establishing the right rewards/recognition.
Potential HR contributions in this area include:
Analyzing existing compensation arrangements to identify the
extent to which those arrangements will support the Six Sigma
initiative.
Creating a strategic compensation plan that will better
support Six Sigma.
Developing a non-monetary reward program for Six Sigma
teams.
Continued
• In creating the six sigma culture ,this department is best suited
to facilitate management of change.
• intensive Training program for operators.
• Personality traits of Six sigma team members :
Adaptability
Analytical
Energetic
Calculative
Definitive
Diplomatic
Finisher
Salesman
Team member