The consultancy claims it has successfully trained over one hundred employees in the field of Six Sigma in Egypt. Of these, half are from Italy and France and another fifty are from Britain. These employees take on a global role, carrying out projects in areas such as quality improvement within companies in China and Malaysia and also helping to train others working there. The firm expects that by using its methodology these companies will realize increases in productivity per employee and at the same time see lower training costs. In addition, they will see improvements in profitability.
Using six sigma methodology is said to be capable of producing improvements in productivity of up to sixty percent and then fifty percent in cost reduction. It is envisaged that within a year’s time, the percentage figure could go up to seventy percent. In addition, this increase is not a temporary phenomenon and is based on actual improvements made by the Egyptian firms. Two thousand six sigma trained individuals are being deployed in Egypt and its operations are reported to be improving every month. In a similar vein, six sigma certification was given to the managers of a Chinese State owned enterprise which claims to have created twenty thousand jobs and created four hundred new six sigma jobs. As well as that, another twelve six sigma jobs have been added in the last year alone.
This may sound like good news to many people around the world, but is it? What is behind this increase in employment figures? For starters, it should be noted that six sigma projects have been established to inspect, audit and improve processes of all sorts within the Egyptian National Economy. These include transport, water management, electricity, telecommunications, information technology and finance. This is not an isolated phenomenon. Six sigma projects have been launched in countries like Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Bhutan, Vietnam and Cambodia as well.
So, is there a connection between six sigma certification and employment figures in Egypt? There is no doubt about the fact that six sigma projects have created jobs in Egypt, but the question is do these jobs create a sustainable foundation for further development and increase in the population’s standard of living? In other words, are the job numbers inflated because of tourism and expectations of tourists from the country? This would imply that the Egyptian government and private companies are over-spending in terms of wages and salaries, leading to an unfortunate situation.
Looking closely at the six sigma certification process in Egypt, a few facts can be gleaned. The six sigma projects are managed by a team of experts who come together every six months to analyze the projects and come up with a report on the current state of affairs. Then they present this report to the senior management of the company who are responsible for implementing the changes. The main aim is to reduce costs, while also maintaining or increasing customer satisfaction levels. If successful, this process will lead to improved customer service and increased profitability.
However, it should be noted that six sigma certification is not just beneficial to the company but the whole organization. The employees of such companies are benefited greatly too. They will benefit by getting a high standard of pay, improved benefits and more time to focus on their jobs. It is therefore important for employers to take six sigma courses and train their staff as soon as possible. The advantages of six sigma training in Egypt are also beginning to spread further as companies like Ecole Software and Sybase have already taken steps to incorporate six sigma techniques into their own business procedures.
The employees of Egyptian companies are already benefiting from six sigma certifications. Now it is just a matter of finding qualified employees who are willing to undergo this course. With companies like HPE and Sybase taking such initiatives, the chances of job candidates benefiting from six sigma courses in Egypt are high. This way, the benefits of six sigma certifications in Egypt are likely to increase in the years to come. As long as the demand for six sigma projects goes up, companies outside Egypt can also look forward to lucrative contracts with six sigma trained employees.