You may have heard about Six Sigma in the workplace and wonder what it’s all about. Can it make an impact in your career and help you gain more opportunities?
Let’s take a closer look at what Six Sigma is and the certification levels you can achieve.
What is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma is about building a knowledge base on how you can improve quality, reduce defects and make better production processes in your company.
Bill Smith developed Six Sigma in 1986. Smith was an engineer and applied what he learned from Edwards Deming, Ronald Fisher and Walter Shewhart to improve device quality.
It’s a certification program where individuals get merits by completing identifying and removing defects, errors and risks in any business process.
Completing a 6 Sigma certification usually means you’ll go through a process and train to become more proficient. Along the way you’ll earn the following certification levels.
Six Sigma Certification Levels
Six Sigma participants can gain skill levels starting from White Belt to Master Black Belt.
Six Sigma White Belt. All 6 Sigma participants start here. This is the level where you learn the concepts of the program and help teams solve problems and support change management.
Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Yellow belt certification is where participants will learn Six Sigma on a deeper level and how to apply it.
Six Sigma Green Belt. Getting to green belt means you can solve quality issues. Green belters can help collect data and analyze them.
Six Sigma Black Belt. Black belters usually lead projects and provide training.
Six Sigma Master Black Belt. The highest certification in the Six Sigma program. Aside from coaching green and black belts you can become a consultant, develop key metrics and shape new strategies within the organization.
Six Sigma certification can help individuals become key players in their organizations and jump ahead in terms of career advancement.