4 Uses of Lean Six Sigma for Finance Professionals

​Finance professionals, like employees in other industries, can greatly benefit from the use of Lean Six Sigma in their institutions. Although Lean Six Sigma was initially developed as a tool to be used in the manufacturing process, it can be applied just as effectively to a service-oriented profession like finance.

Let’s look at 4 ways Finance Professionals can benefit from using Lean Six Sigma:

1. Prevention of Errors

One of the main reasons Lean Six Sigma has been implemented so popularly is its ability to reduce mistakes. With Six Sigma, a process is only allowed to make 3.4 mistakes for every million of its outcomes.

Although the number of allowed errors may sound too strict to some, there are industries which greatly rely on Lean Six Sigma’s accuracy to stay afloat. Air Travel is a good example of such an industry. In 2016, with 973 million passengers traveling by air in the European Union, the room for error is very low if people’s trust in schedules and safe air travel is to be maintained.

Similarly, Finance and Accounting Professionals have very little room for mistakes in their operations. Accuracy in reporting of figures is critical, since businesses have to be audited and pay taxes based on these figures. Errors in reporting of figures can bring a company to its knees via heavy legal fines, or allegations of fraud.
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Therefore implementation of a program like Lean Six Sigma helps businesses ensure compliance and also makes the lives of Finance Professionals a lot easier.

2. Use of Streamlined Key Performance Indicators

Measurement is a key element of a Finance Professional’s job. Depending on the type of industry they operate in, they’ll have to measure cash flows, impact of a future economic outcome and/or the risk associated with a particular action.

Making use of Lean Six Sigma would mean measuring performances. And Key Performance Indicators or KPIs would help in this regard.  
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KPIs have been used in Finance to measure the performance of individuals, groups and processes. Although, KPI is a useful measure in and of itself, its use in collaboration with Lean Six Sigma can make measurements more streamlined with the overall objective of the business. 

​3. Effective Compilation of Data

Lean Six Sigma can be used to create data repositories. Finance Professionals have to deal with a large amount of data. Almost all of their decisions are handled by evaluating numerical data, and if such data isn’t easy to find, financial professionals can spend an enormous amount of time searching for it. Their time is wasted and operational efficiency is reduced.
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Creating a data storage repository for items like financial figures, client reports and contact information can save them a lot of time and effort. 

4. Certification for Career Advancement

There are several certifications and professional qualifications that exist in the world of academic Finance, but only a few that offer financial as well as managerial expertise. A certificate in Lean Six Sigma gives professionals a thorough understanding of measuring and quantifying financial benefits along with the ability to streamline financial processes in line with business strategy. And it also provides an endorsement to employers of their employee having an explicit skill set; thus helping in moving their careers to new heights.
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If you want to further explore how Lean Six Sigma can be used in the Finance field, please check out LearningManager Lean Six Sigma.