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Updated Thursday, March 20, 2008 0:00 am TWN, By Brian Asmus, Special to The China Post



	(From left to right): Excelsis Magno, regional general manager of Volt Asia Enterprises, and AmCham HR Committee cochair Nicole Wu pose for a photo at an American Chamber of Commerce Human Resources Committee workshop held at the Westin Hotel in Taipei yesterday. (Brian Asmus, Special to The China Post) Enlarge Photo

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Six Sigma in talent acquisition discussed

The SIPOC is a graphical representation of those processes. According to Magno, “Suppliers involve people or organizations that provide information, material and other resources to be worked on in the process; input is information or materials provided by suppliers that are transformed by the process; process is a series of steps that transform inputs; output is products or services used by the customer; finally, customers are people, companies or processes that receive process output. This simple chart brings teams a common understanding and manages expectations.”

Interrelation diagrams, another tool, may be used to filter out what may seem to be a root cause, but which is really an effect from another cause. It also shows relationships between causes identified.

For instance, a high rate of employee turnover that leads to a marked decrease in customer satisfaction may result in the following potential causes: low pay scales, lack of training, lack of opportunities, poor job satisfaction, stressful work environments, difficulty in hiring appropriate candidates or an increase in competition for good employees. Interrelation diagrams would enable HR professionals to differentiate root causes from effects.

One customer, said Magno, initiated a joint project based on its shared commitment with Volt to Six Sigma methodology. The objectives were to recruit 15 sales people in 45 days and to hire a diversity mix (50 percent) between minority and female candidates. After interviewing three potential vendors, the company selected Volt to develop a recruitment and screening process to identify key candidates.

“We received more than 2,500 resumes,” said Magno. “We then prescreened 180 candidates (27 percent qualified for diversity) by questionnaire, before hiring 15. We exceeded the diversity objective (eight were minority and/or female = 53 percent), while reducing the hiring cycle from 89 days to 49 days.”

The benefits were a minimization of financial impact on an open territory, lost sales, neglected relationships and little or no new business, while taking advantage of core competencies.

Magno ended the session with a hopeful view that Six Sigma, when properly applied, can change the mindset of organizations to more data focus vs. gut feel. Combination of data and experience bring solutions that make for a successful business practice.

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