What Six Sigma Green Belt Training Is

Six Sigma is a business management program that helps companies recover from financial and organizational losses by pinpointing defects and rectifying them.  In order to accurately implement the business management program, there are individuals ranked at certain levels of Six Sigma Certification.  One of these levels is the Green Belt or SSGB. An SSGB works under a Black Belt. This team of certified individuals is able to implement this methodology, collect vital data and effect positive change in a company.

SSGBs are tasked with collecting information and providing it their team leaders. They do most of the work within the company and are essential to the program's development and success. While their task can be viewed as a smaller scale of the whole process, Green Belts use important tools and objectives to complete their tasks and are a thus an asset to any company.

Six Sigma Green Belt individuals receive important course objectives from their team leaders. They spend almost half of their time collecting information or data and managing their assignments. They utilize various tools within this methodology which enables them to create an effective project and see to its completion.

SSGBs are specifically given the tools they will need to enhance the products and services of a business as well as enable the company to make a profit and gain a higher reputation within the industry during certification. They are also trained to be able to clarify the most complicated of statistical formulas needed to process a project or task.

Six Sigma Green Belt employees, with the use of this business management methodology, are able to clarify concepts with the team as well as understand customer oriented processes. Using special tools like the Kano diagram, they are able to calculate both short and long term values in any given project.

Once an employee has successfully completed their training, they will operate within a specific area of the company and see to several projects and tasks with a group of their peers. In order to become certified for this position, one will need to take SSGB training courses. These courses can be performed on-site or online. Some companies often offer funding for on-site and online courses while others offer incentives for employees with these certifications.

Green Belt certification cannot be carried from company to company because of certain variations in procedures and policies within each company. Trainees will have to undergo various exams before awarded the rank of a SSGB. In addition to tests, individuals will be tasked with implementing the DMAIC methodology, which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control.

Lastly, individuals will have to be adequately trained in the use of specific tools within this methodology. Such tools include statistical aids, histograms, and Pareto diagrams, among many others. These are often provided during training courses.  Persons who have successfully been awarded the Six Sigma Green Belt Certification are open to promotions and added benefits and incentives due to their improved knowledge as an asset to the company. These individuals are highly sought after as many businesses have begun to implement Six Sigma within their services and products.

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Is there Room for Six Sigma Certification in the Banking Industry?

The principles of Six Sigma certification help financial companies improve the quality of the services they offer.

The methodology used in the banking industry is DMAIC; define, measure, analyze, improve, and control.

•    Define: This concept refers to Six Sigma certification professionals who define the objectives and boundaries of certain business processes. The procedures are defined with the contributions of both employees and senior management.

In the case of banks, the main objective will usually be customer satisfaction. This means that all the processes which involve customer interactions or which directly contribute to customer satisfaction must be defined.

These processes may include request processing, CD rollovers, new account openings, teller procedures, and so on.

•    Measure: This stage of the DMAIC process means that Six Sigma professionals deploy quantitative procedures to collect statistical data in consultation with the business managers.

The data collected will then be used to measure the way customer satisfaction is impacted by the different business processes. There will be different processes which have different impacts on customer satisfaction, and financial considerations will prevent every process from being measured.

This means that individual processes must be prioritized and the measurements can then be used to assist banks in concentrating on processes with the greatest effect on customer satisfaction.

In the industry, that usually means a focus on wait times; observers can be used at branches to measure the average wait times under a variety of conditions.

•    Analyze: The data collected during the measure phase of DMAIC are now looked at in the analyze phase.

The analysis will take place under predefined parameters in order to look at the processes which can be improved upon at minimum cost to the organization.

The analysis will cover every aspect of a business process directly affecting customer satisfaction, from check cashing onward.

In that case, the phase would take a look at the different steps involved in check cashing and ascertain which step could be addressed to make the action as fluid as possible.

•    Improve: Once the steps are analyzed, the improve phase comes into play. This means that corrective measures are applied in order to cut down on wait times involving customer satisfaction.

The measures are put into place with the consultation of both staff and the branch manager, and based on facts and statistics.

At this point, one should use advanced simulation tools to study the impact of the initiative on business processes.

•    Control:  Control is similar to measuring, but with an important difference. What is being monitored are not previous processes but rather the improvement measures that have been put into play within different areas.

If the process is still not living up to Six Sigma certification levels, the process will be taken back to the define phase.

If it is only a small problem preventing the realization of goals, on the other hand, corrective measures can be taken and going through the entire process again avoided.

This entire methodology has been employed by banks to great success over the last few decades and has seen many note a marked increase in service delivery and customer satisfaction.

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