Lean Sigma Insights from a Lean & Six Sigma Executive Recruiter

2009 Lean & Six Sigma Talent Demand Study Results

2009-03-04T21:52:00.007-05:00

Lean Talent Demand Widens Lead Over Six Sigma in Bleak Economy

Fifth annual study by executive search firm The Avery Point Group finds Lean talent demand continuing to surpass Six Sigma as companies grapple with today’s bleak economic environment.

PDF Download

ATLANTA, March 3, 2009 -- The recession and rapidly slumping sales are forcing many companies to reevaluate their priorities with regard to their continuous improvement initiatives. As a result, demand for Lean talent is showing signs that it is accelerating its edge over Six Sigma as the more desired skill set, according to a new study by The Avery Point Group (http://www.averypointgroup.com/), a global executive recruiting firm specializing in Lean and Six Sigma talent.

"As an executive recruiting firm, we have a unique vantage point from which to observe the latest trends taking place in industry," explains Tim Noble, managing principal of The Avery Point Group. "Trends in industry are often telegraphed into candidate requirements in job postings, and they can serve as a window into the latest corporate initiatives. Our annual study continues to serve as an industry benchmark that offers useful insight into the latest trends taking place in the area of corporate continuous improvement."

Based on its fifth annual study of Internet job postings, The Avery Point Group found that demand for Lean talent continues to gain ground over Six Sigma as the more desired skill set, reinforcing last year’s study that signaled an ongoing shift in focus toward Lean. This year’s study showed that Lean talent demand exceeded Six Sigma by almost 11 percent, further widening its lead over last year’s results that showed only a slight edge for Lean over Six Sigma.

This year’s study also found, for those companies seeking Lean talent, only 44 percent are requiring candidates to possess Six Sigma knowledge as well. On the other hand, for those companies seeking Six Sigma talent, fully 49 percent of the roles also require candidates to possess Lean knowledge. “Reflecting the broader job market, demand for Lean and Six Sigma talent is down versus 2008 and 2007 peak levels,” states Noble. “However, on a relative basis for the hiring that is taking place, companies are starting to shift more and more of their focus toward Lean. This is perhaps an indication that they see Lean as a better and more practical hedge against today’s tough economic challenges.”

The Avery Point Group fully expects this shift toward Lean to accelerate further as the recession grinds on through 2009. “We have had a situation in the past couple of months where companies have had to take unprecedented and drastic actions, shedding large amounts of labor to bring their cost structure and inventories in line with plummeting sales,” comments Noble. “As the dust settles, and as companies regain their footing, some may find that their remaining operations aren’t as flexible or as effective at servicing their market’s new realities. For some companies this situation can be a transformational opportunity to leverage Lean, while for others it could spell further disaster.”

The Avery Point Group is already seeing a few forward-thinking companies seizing on Lean as a competitive and strategic opportunity to transform their businesses amid the recession. These companies see Lean as a key to reducing waste, improving cash flow and improving operational flexibility, thus enabling them to adjust more quickly to the new realities of today’s economic climate. As the nation exits the recession, these forward-thinking companies may be well-positioned to leverage huge productivity gains as volume returns, outpacing their competitors by achieving higher inventory turns, greater operational flexibility and lower operating costs.

Could the recession and the growing shift in talent demand toward Lean be signaling the beginning of the end for Six Sigma? “Certainly not,“ concludes Noble. “The overall foundation of continuous improvement should be viewed as a collection of tool sets that includes both Lean and Six Sigma, which are applied when and where appropriate. Overall, there are certainly benefits to integrating both methodologies, but the steep challenges of today’s recession may be better served by Lean’s more immediate and practical focus on waste, flow, and flexibility.”

Leveraging Lean During the Recession – Free Webcast 01-15-09

2009-01-12T12:05:00.005-05:00

IndustryWeek magazine sent us this free webcast invitation and we wanted share it with you.

At The Avery Point Group we believe that more progressive and forward looking companies are starting to realize that now, more than ever, is a time to drive Lean into their business processes, in order to offset the impact of this unprecedented recession. We are already starting to see those companies come back to the table in order to add more Lean talent to their organization. Please feel free to share this with your fellow colleagues.

Adopting Lean Manufacturing in a Lean Economy

An IndustryWeek Webcast Invitation

Many companies are turning to Lean manufacturing techniques as part of a strategy to not just survive tough times, but to reorganize their firms for a more profitable future -- regardless of the economic weather.

During the IndustryWeek-hosted webcast this Thursday, Jan. 15, you'll learn how manufacturers are using Lean to achieve superior productivity and profitability now -- while building new capabilities for the future. You'll also learn about the technologies and tools that can help.

Click here to register for this free webcast

During this webcast, you'll hear from well-known manufacturing researcher and columnist John Brandt, CEO of the Manufacturing Performance Institute. Brandt will share insights based on data from thousands of firms about how Lean can help you manage during tough times. Kevin Piotrowski, senior director of industry marketing at Infor, will discuss several Lean manufacturing case studies, and he will show you how Lean processes can positively impact your ability to thrive in a lean economy.

EVENT DETAILS:
"Adopting Lean Manufacturing in a Lean Economy"

DATE: Thursday, January 15, 2009
TIME: 2:00 p.m. EST (GMT -5, New York)
DURATION: One hour
COST: None
Sponsored by Infor

Sign up for this free webcast

To learn more about how The Avery Point Group can help your organization find the right leadership for your Lean deployment visit:

AveryPointGroup.Com

To learn more about the latest talent demand trends for Lean & Six Sigma visit:

LeanSigmaTalent.Com

To learn more about the latest Lean & Six Sigma job opportunities and to sign up for automatic Lean & Six Sigma job alerts visit:

LeanSixSigmaJobs.Blogspot.Com

Capable Leadership Key to Lean Success

2009-01-06T09:35:00.004-05:00

Here is an interesting article from this month's IndustryWeek magazine (January 2009) based on recent study by the Mckinsey consulting firm. The study somewhat confirms the obvious, but sheds light on why according to another leading business magazine study, only 2% of plants have reached world-class manufacturing performance.

The 'Soft Side' of Lean

Companies may be losing half their potential savings from lean programs when they overlook the need for leaders who are capable of implementing continuous-improvement plans.

By Jonathan Katz

Jan. 1, 2009 -- The authors of a McKinsey Quarterly article published in November say companies may be losing half their potential savings from lean programs when they overlook the need for leaders who are capable of implementing and driving continuous-improvement plans.

In the report, entitled "From lean to lasting: Making operational improvements stick," authors David Fine, Maia Hansen and Stefan Roggenhofer write that many companies focus on the "hard" operational tools, such as just-in-time production, but often ignore the "softer side," characterized as the development leaders who can "link and align the boardroom with the shop floor."

Included in the report are characteristics of leaders that the McKinsey authors say are critical to gain buy-in from employees and attain maximum results. According to the report, the "six habits of lean leaders" are:

A focus on operating processes: Senior managers should demonstrate the importance of the process using visible activities and make standardization a habit. As an example, a chief operating officer may conduct regular shop floor visits and quality assurance checks to review milling-machine operating processes and reinforce standards with workers

Root cause problem solving: Instead of providing immediate solutions to problems, managers use them as teaching opportunities. For instance, a plant manager ensures the problem is contained properly and then asks the team to analyze the causes using the "five why" method to determine the underlying cause.

Clear performance expectations: Performance dialogue should be open at all management levels. This may include meetings with employees and team leaders to track productivity and discuss improvement ideas, with productivity metrics displayed prominently.

Aligned leadership: Process improvements don't stop at functional boundaries. In this case, company leaders can create a more open and collaborative environment by offering incentives, such as tying half of the functional leaders' year-end bonuses to the key performance indicators of the entire team.

A sense of purpose: Connections between day-to-day work and long-term goals become tangible throughout the entire company. For example, take workers to an end-user's operation so they can see how their products are used in the real world and the importance of quality.

Support for people: Managers empower workers and encourage them to make important decisions. This shows employees that they're a source of customer value. The report's authors use the example of an area sales manager driving to the head office to pick up a replacement printer that frontline agents need to continue working efficiently.

Lean Talent Demand Finally Edges Out Six Sigma

2008-07-14T20:33:00.000-04:00

Fourth annual study by executive search firm Avery Point Group finds Lean talent demand surpassing Six Sigma while companies continue to leverage both methodologies in a down economy

ATLANTA, July 15, 2008 -- After years of steady gains, Lean has finally achieved a slight edge over Six Sigma as the more desired skill set. According to an annual study by The Avery Point Group (http://www.AveryPointGroup.com), a leading national executive recruiting firm, the accelerating demand for Lean talent is an indicator that companies are increasingly looking to Lean as a means to help them combat the current economic headwinds they are facing.

"As an executive recruiting firm, we have a unique vantage point from which to observe the latest trends taking place in industry," says Tim Noble, managing principal of The Avery Point Group. "Trends in industry are often telegraphed into candidate requirements in job postings, and they can serve as a window into the latest corporate initiatives. Our annual study continues to offer useful insight into the latest trends taking place in the area of corporate continuous improvement."

Based on its fourth annual study of Internet job postings, The Avery Point Group found that Six Sigma may no longer hold its once dominant position in the world of corporate continuous improvement initiatives, as was found in its three previous annual studies. For the first time, the study showed that demand for Lean talent has grown to eclipse and slightly exceed that of Six Sigma. The growth in interest in Lean talent has not, however, come at the expense of Six Sigma; rather, this year’s study continues to confirm an overall increasing demand for continuous improvement talent, with Lean driving most of the recent talent demand growth.

The study also found, for those companies seeking Six Sigma or Lean talent, fully 50 percent are looking for practitioners to have both skill sets. Further, the study indicated that job postings are making increasing demands on candidates, requiring them to possess a much deeper knowledge and experience skill set with regard to their Lean backgrounds versus prior years.

"No longer is it acceptable for candidates to claim to have a Lean Sigma or Lean Six Sigma background," says Noble. "Companies want to see candidates that have the hardcore Lean experience gained in a true Lean transformation setting, and that can’t be gained from an environment where Lean is an afterthought or a lesser appendage to an existing Six Sigma program.”

Despite the rising prominence of Lean as the potentially new dominant continuous improvement methodology, Six Sigma is by no means past its prime, as evidenced by its continued talent demand resilience. It, however, means that companies, in the face of strong economic headwinds, are seriously rethinking the balance these two methodologies have with one another in their overall continuous improvement initiatives.

“This is certainly a major center of gravity shift from our first study in 2005 where Six Sigma talent demand outpaced Lean by more than 50 percent,” concludes Noble. “However, in the end, the real winner is any company that successfully engages in some form of continuous improvement, regardless of whether it is Lean, Six Sigma, or some other well-executed combination of both.”

For more information about The Avery Point Group and its executive search and recruiting services, contact Tim Noble at 678-585-9804.

Website: http://www.AveryPointGroup.com

Blog: http://leansixsigmajobs.blogspot.com/

# # #

Avery Point Group featured in Industry Week magazine

2008-03-05T23:08:00.003-05:00

Industry Week - March 1st 2008

Six Sigma, Lean Come Together

Study shows continuous improvement methods are merging.

By Jonathan Katz

March 1, 2008 -- Green Belt, Black Belt, Master Black Belt. Plant floors in recent years have been sounding more like martial arts classes than manufacturing operations. These warriors are trained to specialize in Six Sigma, the statistical analysis process developed by Motorola Inc. in the 1980s to eliminate waste. In the past, Six Sigma skills were considered more desirable than general lean knowledge, according to a study by executive search firm Avery Point Group. But more companies these days are looking for candidates who demonstrate a mix of lean and Six Sigma skills.

"When it comes to desired skill sets, companies want to have their cake and eat it, too," says Tim Noble, managing principal of Avery. "Even though companies may not have a full-blown Six Sigma or lean deployment underway, our study shows each year they increasingly desire candidates that possess Six Sigma, lean or both skill sets in their DNA."

Based on a sampling of Internet job postings, the study shows that demand for lean talent grew from 2006 to 2007 to nearly equal that of Six Sigma. The study also concludes that 38% of companies seeking Six Sigma talent are looking for employees who also have lean expertise. On the other hand, 42% of companies advertising for lean practitioners require some Six Sigma exposure.

In addition, the study shows companies are putting less emphasis on "belt" certifications, with less than one-fifth of Six Sigma postings seeking to specifically fill Master Black Belt and Black Belt roles. "Companies are increasingly opting instead to inject candidates who posses Six Sigma and lean skill sets into regular line roles versus creating standalone structured continuous improvement roles, as often was the case with Six Sigma positions in the past," Noble says.

Wedding Bells for Six Sigma and Lean

2006-10-30T21:16:00.000-05:00

Trends in industry are often telegraphed into candidate requirements in job postings and they can serve as a window into the latest corporate initiatives. As trends go, none has been more contested and anticipated than the evolving relationship between Six Sigma and Lean. Today there are increasing signs found in job postings that these two corporate initiatives are headed down the aisle of eternal matrimony.

Based on a recent study of over 3,000 internet job board postings, The Avery Point Group found that Six Sigma still outpaces Lean by a wide margin when it comes to desired skill sets. However, for those companies seeking Six Sigma talent, fully one-third are looking for practitioners to also have Lean expertise as part of their tool set. For companies seeking Lean talent the desire is even greater for candidates to also possess Six Sigma knowledge, with almost half of all Lean jobs posted requiring Six Sigma exposure. The merger between Six Sigma and Lean is also clearly evident for jobs posted at the very heart of Six Sigma's key leadership roles. Almost half of all companies seeking to specifically hire Master Black Belt and Black Belt talent required candidates to also possess Lean as a core part of their tool set.

When it comes to Six Sigma and Lean skill sets, it is becoming increasing obvious that companies want to have their cake and eat it too. Furthermore, the study found that even though companies may not have a full-blown Six Sigma or Lean deployment underway, they highly desire talent that possesses both Six Sigma and Lean skills to be part of a candidate's DNA. Continuous improvement practitioners on either side of the aisle might want to sit up and take notice that this wedding is clearly underway.

For further evidence of this tryst, one only need look to published books. Six years ago books published on the combined topic of Lean and Six Sigma were virtually nonexistent. Today, however, they dominate the continuous improvement publishing landscape. Over the past two years alone, books published on the combined topic of Lean and Six Sigma represented almost half of the Lean books published and a quarter of the Six Sigma books published.

For some purists, this mixed marriage is viewed only with contempt; for others it is seen as a natural progression - the result of companies seeking to blend the best of both methodologies in order to remain competitive in today's global economy. Those that perpetuate the divide between Six Sigma and Lean are clearly missing the point. Core to both methodologies is the idea that challenges need to be approached with an open mind, because solutions can sometimes come from the most unlikely of sources. True Six Sigma and Lean practitioners will view this marriage with an open mind and realize that these are truly complementary tool sets, not competing philosophies.

www.AveryPointGroup.com

The Impending Talent Crisis ... Six Sigma and Lean to the Rescue

2006-09-09T21:43:00.000-04:00

“Talent Wars” and “Brain Drain” are not the latest must see horror movies from this summer, but U.S. business leaders might want to sit-up and take notice of an emerging crisis that could play-out frightening results for their organizations in the coming decade.

As 77 million U.S. Baby Boomers begin to retire over the next decade, there are only 46 million Gen-X’ers available to backfill the Boomers’ retiring ranks. Even with a modest two percent economic growth rate over the next 15 years, demand for critical talent could increase by as much as a third, creating a “war” for critical talent. For some companies the crisis may be even more immediate. One recent study of the nation’s 500 largest companies reported that they expect to lose half of their senior management over the next five years. Additional studies suggest that up to 85 percent of major companies surveyed have no formal program or process in place to deal with this impending crisis.

In the past few years companies have been so transfixed on downsizing to contain costs that they have largely neglected this looming threat to their competitiveness. There is no doubt that over the next decade or so, demand for talent will ebb and flow with the economy, however there is no denying this demographic shift and the potential impact it will have on U.S businesses. Some companies may be in for a rude awakening when they are unable to achieve even the most modest of business goals due to drastic staffing and talent shortfalls.

A less visible but no less dangerous problem is the loss of knowledge, or “brain drain,” resulting from senior workers departing the organization without passing on their expertise to others. This lack of knowledge management will place many companies in a position to repeat prior mistakes and expose businesses to additional financial and operational risks. Worse yet, if no action is taken, some organizations could be headed for a point of no return with the complete loss of process knowledge in a few years.

Companies that rely solely on a strategy of outsourcing as a potential solution may be in for a shock as well, as existing sources of talent from offshore labor pools, such as India, Mexico and China, dry up as these countries recognize their own needs and provide incentives to retain talent in order to support their own local economic business objectives.

Given this looming demographic shift, the time for corporate leaders to act is now; however, companies must resist the urge to rush ahead without a well-balanced and deliberate approach to managing and leveraging their human capital. Part of the solution may lie with such tools as Six Sigma and Lean. With their focus on process discipline, variation reduction and waste elimination, these tools are well-suited to help companies address this impending crisis.

Six Sigma has long been utilized by organizations to transform manufacturing and transactional processes from art to science by defining and validating key process variables to gain process control and eliminate variation. A key part of this methodology is the capture, transfer and validation of knowledge from process owners, thus making Six Sigma an essential part of any action plan to deal with the dangers of organizational “brain drain.” Companies need to not only view Six Sigma as a tool to drive productivity and service, but also as an essential methodology for critical knowledge management within their organizations. Six Sigma has a built-in tool set that lends itself very nicely to capturing and validating critical process knowledge that may otherwise be lost when key talent departs an organization.

The Lean tool kit can also play an important role in aiding organizations as they deal with this imminent crisis. Lean has a built-in methodology with such tools as “value-stream-mapping” and “standardized work” that can help organizations identify and eliminate non-value-added processes that waste human capital. Lean, with its focus on waste elimination, is ideal for helping organizations to free up human capital for redeployment. However, Lean will need to move beyond its stereotype as a tool set for only manufacturing and be accepted and applied to transactional processes in order to be an effective tool to mitigate the effects of this impending crisis.

Six Sigma and Lean are only part of the potential solution, providing a proven set of tools that can be part of a broader business talent management strategy. Business leaders will first need to recognize that the short-term solutions of the past will not work and accept that the landscape for talent management will dramatically change, requiring a more balanced and comprehensive solution in order to remain competitive in the coming decades.

Lean Versus Six Sigma… And the Winner is? (Dated Aug 2005)

2006-09-09T20:41:00.000-04:00

Today’s competitive global business environment leaves little room for error and inefficiency, which explains why Six Sigma and Lean have become part of today’s everyday business language. Many extol the virtues of these continuous improvement methods as a way to drive out waste and reduce variation in everything from customer service to overall process performance. However, which continuous improvement methodology is more prominent and popular?

Based on the following three key indices, Six Sigma still dominates Lean as the more prominent and popular methodology by a wide margin.

Books Published: Over the past five years both methodologies have seen an explosion of books published covering their topics, which will only help to elevate the interest in Six Sigma and Lean as more business leaders become immersed in the published materials now being made available. Each year, however, books published on the topic of Six Sigma consistently outpace Lean by a wide margin.

Internet Keyword Searches: Based on Internet search engine keyword search counts, Six Sigma search inquiries still outpace Lean inquiries by a 2-1 or greater margin. However, keyword searches on Lean have been gaining ground recently.

Job Board Postings: Based on Internet job board postings, the use of the keyword Six Sigma outpaces Lean consistently by more than 50%.

The difference in prominence between Six Sigma and Lean may be due to the fact that Six Sigma has been able to move beyond its roots in manufacturing into other disciplines, while Lean is still largely perceived as a tool to improve manufacturing processes. This perception is changing as more and more businesses across the board are looking to blend the best of each methodology to accelerate their continuous improvement efforts. Companies are increasingly realizing that these are truly complementary tool sets and not necessarily competing philosophies.

In the end, the real winner is any company that successfully engages in some form of continuous improvement, regardless of whether it is Lean, Six Sigma, or some other well-executed approach. Today there are few, if any, companies that can claim to have reached world-class performance without utilizing some form of continuous improvement approach. World-class status is a constantly moving target defined by both your customers and your competitors. Without a continuous improvement approach you’re not even treading water in today’s global economy.

Is the Six Sigma Fad Dead? (Dated Aug-2005)

2006-09-09T20:23:00.000-04:00

Like the Slinky and Silly Putty, business fads have their own limited lifespan, so it is natural to ask: Is Six Sigma dead, or at least waning in popularity? While there is no standard definition of what constitutes a business fad, a fad is often characterized as being an initiative that is adopted widely by companies and often falls from grace when the hoped for benefits fail to materialize.

The average life cycle of a business theory of management or fad is typically five years and Six Sigma has been part of our business lexicon for almost a decade. So is it time for the business chapter on Six Sigma to come to a close? The interest in Six Sigma is still very strong despite it's almost decade long run. This may be due to the fact that over the past decade Six Sigma has shown great flexibility in its application beyond its roots in manufacturing.

If published books are any indicator, the interest in Six Sigma is continuing to grow. In the past two years alone over 100 books have been published on the subject of Six Sigma, a seven-fold increase over the number of books published on the subject five years ago. This can only help to elevate the interest in Six Sigma as more business leaders become immersed in the published materials now being made available.

Like any other business practice, Six Sigma is an initiative that if implemented incorrectly can become just another fad in the eyes of business leaders. There is no questioning the fact that the success of an initiative like Six Sigma comes down to leadership and the quality of its execution. Too often an initiative like Six Sigma can gain a fad-like stigma in some companies because it fails to deliver as promised, when all the while it was an issue of leadership that drove the failure.

So to answer the question, "Is the Six Sigma fad dead?" The answer is clearly no. However, what will eventually determine whether Six Sigma is viewed by businesses as just a passing management fad or not, largely depends of the leadership and success of its execution.