JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Nine staff members within the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR) are set to graduate the “green belt phase” of Six Sigma training, which is a statewide continuous improvement initiative. Jared Brockman, Branden Buckland, Sandra Herring, and Brittney Rollins will complete their Six Sigma Green Belt training this month while Tammy Patterson, Liz McDermit, Dineika Jefferson, Shauna Healea, and Colleen Dowd are slated to complete their training later this year. The training of these nine staff members and others comes with DOLIR’s commitment to continuous improvement. The intensive training consists of a problem solving process that includes learning the five different phases of continuous improvement: define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. Participants learn tools and techniques to guide them through each phase of the continuous improvement process. Executing each phase correctly so that all solutions are implemented ensures sound analytical results that are customer driven.
Those who go through the Six Sigma training are sought out to be change agents within their respective division and the department. They will foster proactive and productive change by analyzing the processes and procedures within DOLIR all while having the goal in mind to find pathways toward increasing accuracy and efficiency, and better serving citizens of Missouri. Specifically, Sigma Green Belt training prepares participants to lead others in process analysis and improvement. A fundamental question that change agents are presented with is, “If you don’t change the process, why would you expect the results to change?” (Anonymous)
Liz McDermit, Management Analyst Specialist for DOLIR Administration, states that data collection and analyzation has been the most valuable piece of her Six Sigma training. She says, "knowing what data to collect and how to analyze it using various tools and techniques has been very rewarding." McDermit looks to apply her training to DOLIR’s hiring process. “From the time the initial vacancy is communicated to our office to the first day of work for the new hire is roughly 90 days. Through what I have learned in this program, I want to cut it down to six weeks by increasing efficiencies and decreasing wait times, ensuring DOLIR is the first choice for potential employees,” states McDermit.
DOLIR’s strategic planner Colleen Dowd says, “I am thrilled at the quality of problem solving these individuals are learning and applying to DOLIR. I am grateful to the staff who are supporting us as we learn Six Sigma. That support includes not only management at all levels, but the rest of Department staff who are open to our ideas and methods.”
For more information on the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations visit labor.mo.gov.