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Six Sigma and Lean Talent Demand: Finally Reaching Parity

Third annual study by Lean & Six Sigma executive recruiting and search firm The Avery Point Group findsLean gaining ground on Six Sigma while companies continue to leverage both methodologies to gain competitive edge.

The relationship between Six Sigma and Lean is starting to show signs of becoming a more balanced partnership. According to an annual study by The Avery Point Group, a leading national executive search firm, there are increasing signs that these two corporate initiatives are finally achieving parity.

"As an executive search 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 third annual sampling of Internet job postings, The Avery Point Group found that Six Sigma no longer outpaces Lean by a wide margin when it comes to desired skill sets, as was found in its two previous annual studies. Demand for Lean talent has grown in the past year to almost equal that of Six Sigma. The growth in interest in Lean talent has not, however, come at the expense of Six Sigma; rather the study shows an overall increased demand for continuous improvement talent utilizing these skill sets.

The study also found, for those companies seeking Six Sigma talent, 38 percent are looking for practitioners who have Lean expertise as part of their tool set as well. For companies seeking Lean talent the desire is only slightly greater for candidates to exhibit Six Sigma knowledge also, with 42 percent of all Lean jobs posted requiring Six Sigma exposure. As further validation for the value of these skill sets, the study found demand for Six Sigma and Lean talent from almost every function and industry segment.

"When it comes to desired skill sets companies want to have their cake and eat it, too," says Noble. "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."

The Avery Point Group study also found that demand for Six Sigma talent has become increasingly "operationalized" 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," says Noble. "Lean, for the most part, has always been an operationalized-based approach, and for Six Sigma this trend is a natural progression for a widely deployed maturing corporate initiative."

Noble concludes, "The continued strong demand for Six Sigma and Lean talent, as shown in our study, is evidence that companies are increasingly seeking to leverage these key continuous improvement methodologies as an integral part of their operations in an effort to remain competitive in today’s global economy."

Avery Point Group:  Retained & Contingent Executive Search for Lean & Six Sigma Talent

The Avery Point Group is a global executive recruiting and search firm that assists companies in identifying, assessing and recruiting mid-level management to senior executive Lean & Six Sigma talent. Our firm leverages its principals’ decades of executive Lean & Six Sigma operations and staffing experience to provide the highest quality executive search services.

Visit our main website:  AveryPointGroup.com 

Visit our Lean Sigma website:  LeanSigmaRecruiter.com

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Executive Search Brochure (PDF)

Learn more about our process:     LeanSigmaSearch.com

Visit our Jobs Blog:  LeanSixSigmaJobs.blogspot.com

How is Our Lean & Six Sigma Executive Search and Recruiting Firm Different?

With our team’s significant Six Sigma and Lean executive experience, we are uniquely qualified to help our clients find, assess and recruit the right continuous improvement and operational excellence talent. Our key principals are Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Lean trained by globally recognized industry leading Fortune 500 companies and have real-world executive experience leading their application in manufacturing, distribution and service-based industries. Our key principals have managed global operations and led key Lean & Six Sigma initiatives in Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America and throughout Asia.

Our principals, with their global perspective, understand what it takes to find, assess and recruit talent for companies to succeed in today’s global economy. Unlike other Lean & Six Sigma executive recruiters and search firms, we truly speak the language of our clients and candidates.

How Critical is the Right Continuous Improvement Talent?   

According to a leading business magazine study, only 2% of plants have reached world-class manufacturing performance, with an additional 23% making significant progress toward this enviable status. The common theme found among these superior operations was a fully implemented and effective continuous improvement methodology.

Of the plants that have made little or no progress toward world-class performance, 53% reported having some level of continuous improvement effort already in place. The study very pointedly suggests that these improvement efforts might be suffering from half-hearted and unfocused efforts or worse yet, disinterested or incompetent leadership.

The overall findings of this study point to the fact that most operations could dramatically improve their performance by having the right leadership talent in place. Our focus is to help our clients find the right talent to maximize their continuous improvement / operational excellence efforts and help them achieve world-class performance.