Yesterday, I did my usual once-a-week visits to other Six Sigma blogs and websites. I found one interesting entry by Andrew Downard, titled “Whither Certification.”
I recall that I’ve written about certification and standardizing Six Sigma certification before. It was brought about by one comment of a fellow blogger.
Right now, there’s no standard certification system or an authorized body to certify that you are a Six Sigma organization. As I’ve said, this is unlike ISO certification which companies regularly renew, and even hire an auditing body to check on noncomformants. This is because in a way an ISO certification legitimizes a company’s business. In fact, a company considers it as one of their strenghs to be ISO certified.
Downard wrote a good entry as he cited the many issues surrounding a standardized certification. He says:
There is no automatic value to a business in having either “tough” or “easy” certification criteria, or even criteria which are consistent in their application. Indeed, the only thing that should matter in setting up a certification program is what behavior the business wants to recognize and reward. Want to drive the efficient acquisition of knowledge? Design metrics and base certification around those. Want to complete a lot of projects quickly? Design your certification around that. Want to use Six Sigma certification to drive employee morale and buy in? Then certify everyone as they walk out the door of the training course. I could go on, but you get the idea. None of these methods of evaluation are good or bad ideas except in the context of what the organization wants to do. Continue reading…
To which Sue Kozlowski reacted:
…Company certification may not “travel,” even between organizations with similar products or services, so Gen X’ers looking to move up and out may not get credit for past training or experience. Also, lack of a national standard (by “national certification” I don’t mean to imply that only one company could offer it – only that the requirements would have to be equivalent among those companies) means that the Six Sigma philosophy may get watered down so that the terms GB, BB, and MBB become meaningless. (Grandmaster Black Belt? Gold Belt?)
Maybe we need to differentiate “certification,” with its implication of stringent training, experience, and professional-body approval; and “credentialing,” with its implication (at least in healthcare) of meeting organization-specific requirements.
