by Crisglen John Villegas
MAKATI CITY, Philippines- Formerly with 51Talk, one of the fastest growing online English Language Teaching (ELT) platform in China and the Philippines, Raymond “Mon” Apolonio earned his Six Sigma Green Belt Certification back in August 2015.
| In a recent interview, Raymond Apolonio reminisced with us and shared his experience about his Six Sigma Green Belt Certification. Mon, shared his story as he faced both struggles and success. He even shared some words to encourage those who are currently pursuing their Green Belt Certification. | “I encountered resistance because individuals who are not fully aware of Six Sigma or process improvement in general has that tendency to get in the way. I stood my ground and once they saw results, it was downhill ride from there.” – Raymond Apolonio, Certified Six Sigma Green Belt |
To be certified in Six Sigma, one has to complete an actual Six Sigma project and apply process improvement tools, methodology and techniques learned in class. "That's one reason why companies give high value for Certified Six Sigma individuals. One does not just attend a program and receive his certification, but has to successfully apply and show proper use of tools and methodology with actual work processes. One has to earn his Six Sigma certification," Tuozo said. "If you attend our Six Sigma programs, unlike other training providers, you get continuous support after the program, for no additional cost. You'll be assigned a Black Belt to help you complete your project," Tuozo added.
"If you attend our Six Sigma programs, unlike other training providers, you get continuous support after the program, for no additional cost. You'll be assigned a Black Belt to help you complete your project,"– Rex Tuozo, Master Black Belt, “The Six Sigma Guy”
The project that got Mon certified is about the reduction of missed enrollments/sales conversion opportunity from 8% to 4% that year. To their surprise, even before their target deadline approached, they were able to decrease their defect rate to 2% instead. This resulted to the enrollment/conversions doubling up. Not only that, because of streamlining and the installation of new value added processes, the complaint rate decreased from 5% to 2% at the end of the month - this aspect wasn’t even in his project charter!
In his testimonial speech in 2015, he mentioned how companies would often view and give positive responses as they go through his resume, and that was even before his certification. Now, He is a valued employee of Home Credit Philippines. Employed as the Project and Process Manager, acting as Project Coach on all process improvement projects. He aspires to be a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and is planning to pursue it next year.
“It’s like building your own dream car” It may seem intimidating at first, (trust me I know) and during my time, I had to do and redo a LOT in my project to make sure that everything fits. Once you finally get it right, the sense of accomplishment is rewarding and you’d know that you just did something that only less than 3% can do.” –Mon
