5 Things to Know Before Going for a Lean Six Sigma Certification

The Six Sigma approach, which was recognized in the manufacturing sector, is now gaining importance in other business verticals as well. Telecommunications, pharmaceutical, shipping, information technology, finance, human resources, and marketing are some of those industries. Lean management, when combined with Six Sigma, results in reducing errors and problems while simultaneously improving the service quality. The approach is used to minimize waste, customer dissatisfaction, timetable shortfalls in the IT infrastructure, and IT expenditures. 

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Today, many people are seeking Lean Six Sigma training to learn the concepts from scratch and establish their career in quality management. It also helps them prepare for the highly popular Lean Six Sigma certifications. Graduates and entrepreneurs who have standard degree credentials can quickly differentiate themselves from others by holding the globally recognized Lean Six Sigma certifications. As a certified professional, you will be capable of contributing your efforts to minimize manufacturing time and costs. You will be skilled in leading changes by bringing mistake-proofing into practice. The organization will consider you a specialist who has a better understanding of business operations and how to measure, analyze, control, and optimize them. 

Are you willing to pursue a Lean Six Sigma certification? If yes, here are some of the things you should know before achieving this certification. 

Top Things to Know Before Pursuing a Lean Six Sigma Certification

Here are some of the things you should be aware of before deciding to go for a Lean Six Sigma certification.

Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma are two separate tracks 

If you are a beginner in the field of quality management, you may easily get confused between six sigma and lean six sigma. It is important to note that both Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma have three levels of certification each. Both of them start at the Green Belt level and progress to Black Belt and Master Black Belt designations. If you are planning to go for either Green Belt or Black Belt certifications, it is better to have some relevant experience in the field. 

There is no single official body for administering Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma Certification

When people want to pursue project management certification, they generally go for the PMP certification that is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). But the same doesn’t hold true for Lean Six Sigma certifications. Different companies offer Six Sigma training and certification and have their own coursework. However, two accreditation bodies are recognized worldwide that follow the global industry standards - the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and the International Association of Six Sigma Certification (IASSC). Note that ASQ offers only Six Sigma certifications. It is IASSC that offers Lean Six Sigma certifications and is considered a trusted source of professional credentialing. 

Training is crucial to prepare for Lean Six Sigma certification exams 

When you are going for certification from either ASQ or IASSC, you will mostly be required to pass a rigorous exam apart from other eligibility requirements. A training course will help you prepare well for the exam and clear it successfully. Both ASQ and IASSC offer various training materials like books, self-paced online courses, instructor-led classroom training, sample questions, and more. The ASQ courses are available on its official website. IASSC has accredited training partners who are authorized to impart Lean Six Sigma training. For example, Simplilearn is an accredited training partner of IASSC whose Lean Six Sigma course is aligned with the certification syllabus. 

Leads you to managerial roles

There is a strong reason to pursue Lean Six Sigma certification - it helps your career growth and makes you eligible for holding managerial positions. Through Lean Six Sigma, you improvise on a number of skills like management, risk assessment, leadership, team-building skills, optimal use of resources, reduction of errors, and financial skills. All these skills are sought-after for a project manager, product manager, operational excellence manager, and other ambitious roles. Achieving a Lean Six Sigma certification opens your doors to such promising opportunities. 

Lean Six Sigma Certification improves your salary prospects

People often debate as to whether any certification can help increase an individual’s salary. Well, with a certification from ASQ or IASSC, your salary prospects will only become better. A Lean Six Sigma certification adds a lot of value to professionals like operations managers, project managers, supply chain managers, business process consultants, and other related roles. While an operations manager with Lean Six Sigma certification earns an average of Rs. 1049K per year in India, the Director of Operations earns an average annual salary of Rs. 2984K, according to Payscale. No wonder these certifications contribute to your growing salary. 

Over to You

By reading the above points, we hope that you will have better clarity when approaching any six sigma-related certifications. Instead of going for a vendor-specific certification, we recommend that you prefer IASSC for Lean Six Sigma certification as it follows global industry standards. Head over to its website, look for the available certification levels and check their eligibility. If you fulfill the requirements, you can apply for the exam. Make sure you enroll in a proper training program before appearing for the exam.