Page 48 - Six Sigma Demystified

2

c h a p t e r

Developing the Training

and Deployment Plan

Six Sigma is the most important management training thing we’ve ever
had. It’s better than going to Harvard Business School; it teaches you
how to think differently.
—Jack Welch, April 1999 interview (Slater, 2000)

It’s been said many times that a company’s most valued resource is its employ-
ees, and this is certainly the case in a Six Sigma organization. Employees pro-
vide the critical link to customer satisfaction and loyalty and ensure that the

organization is consistently aligned with dynamic customer needs. Training pro-
vides the means of instructing employees on the necessary practices to meet
those needs.
A starting point for many organizations is executive overview training, which
allows senior executives and managers to understand the deployment strategy
and resource requirements necessary to begin a Six Sigma program. Once senior
management has decided on the overall strategy, it should train an initial wave
of Six Sigma personnel. The necessary elements of the first wave training include

• Executive overview training
• Champion training, including project selection
• Black belt/green belt training
29