Quality Progress - December 2017 - 45
FIGURE 2 Salary by highest level of Six Sigma training for U.S. respondents executive training. That step up from Black Belt (BB) to MBB, though, is a whopper, taking salaries from $107,801 for the former to $142,080 for the latter, a difference of $34,279. In Canada (Figure 3, p. 46), the stair-step pattern is muted by the smaller numbers of respondents. Thus, the outsized salary of $129,750 shown for MBBs must be taken with plenty of salt because only 1.4% of Canadian respondents have earned that belt. The 13.8% of professionals holding the BB, however, show a healthy average of $100,105, and the larger number of respondents in the category makes this figure more reliable. Where Figures 2 and 3 show a four-year history, Table 1 (p. 46) shows similar data for six years in a tabular format. Here, however, instead of showing the raw salary for each belt, we show the difference in salary for holders of that belt compared to those who've achieved the next lower level. Here, for example, we easily read that in Canada, those who've earned the BB make, on average, $13,337 more than those whose highest level of training is the Green Belt. Table 2 (p. 47) breaks down salaries by Six Sigma training and job title for full-time professionals in the United States and Canada. In each box, the salary is shown along with a superscripted number telling how many respondents are represented. 80,553 82,238 83,004 84,675 None (47%) 85,539 83,179 86,938 Yellow Belt (7.6%) 89,377 91,889 93,558 95,431 Green Belt (22.4%) 100,580 103,923 104,974 107,801 Black Belt (18.3%) 126,311 128,983 130,878 142,080 Master Black Belt (3.5%) 118,393 150,516 Champion (0.7%) 1,29,860 125,542 127,520 143,819 155,143 151,182 Executive (0.4%) 0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000 $120,000 $140,000 $160,000 2014 Average salary 2015 2016 2017 Figure 2 includes results for: x Full-time employees, Part-time employees, x U.S. employees, Canadian employees, International employees For professionals in the U.S., the step from Black Belt to Master Black Belt is lucrative, taking salaries from $107,801 for the former to $142,080 for the latter, a difference of $34,279. qualityprogress.com ❘ December 2017 QP 45