Potential occupational standard
Occupational standard in development
Approved occupational standard
Occupational standard without apprenticeship
Custom occupational card
Apprenticeship
Higher Technical Qualification
T Level
Technical Qualification
Career starter apprenticeship
Royal apprenticeship
Occupational progression
Technical education progression
Mid green occupation
Dark green occupation
Favourite occupation
View glossary of terms
home Business and administration
Improvement practitioner

Improvement practitioner

Business and administration

Level 4 - Higher Technical Occupation

Identify and lead the delivery of change across organisational functions and processes.

Print to PDF View occupation in map

Reference: OCC0192

Status: assignment_turned_inApproved occupation

Average (median) salary: £50,287 per year

SOC 2020 code: 2440 Business and financial project management professionals

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:

  • 2440/01 Business change managers
  • 2131/00 IT project managers
  • 2431/01 Business analysts and consultants
  • 2431/02 Management advisers and consultants
  • 2440/03 Risk managers
  • 2440/99 Business and financial project management professionals n.e.c.

Technical Education Products

ST0192:

Improvement practitioner

(Level 4)

Approved for delivery

Employers involved in creating the standard:

BT Group Plc, Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, Capella Associates, Chartered Quality Institute, International Automotive Components Group Ltd, Jaguar Land Rover Ltd, SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre Ltd, Capella Associates Ltd, Wincanton Plc, GLAS Business Solutions Ltd, develop-u, National Skills Academy for Food & Drink, Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd, 2 Sisters Food Group, Ricoh Europe Plc, TUI Group Plc, Gleeds Management Services Ltd, Royal Mail Group Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, nuvia Limited, Bee Lighting Ltd, Clevedon Fasteners Ltd, Stadco Ltd, Kraft Heinz Company, British Standards Institution, Morson International Ltd, Testlink Services Ltd, Rolls-Royce Controls and Data Services Ltd, Leonardo – Helicopter division

Summary

Improvement Practitioners use a blend of Lean and Six Sigma, project and change management principles and tools to identify and lead the delivery of change across organisational functions and processes. Improvement Practitioners can be found across all sectors and functions including automotive, banking, engineering, food products, IT, property, retail, telecoms, Local and County Councils, NHS, Voluntary / Charity, Utilities, Pharmaceuticals, Insurance, Hospitality etc.​ Typically, Practitioners lead smaller projects and/or play a key supporting role in a larger programme – tackling issues that may require swift problem solving, or re-occurring challenges that require in-depth analysis and the implementation of a range of effective and sustainable countermeasures. They are the focal point for all stakeholders and responsible for communication throughout a project.

Employers involved in creating the standard:

BT Group Plc, Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, Capella Associates, Chartered Quality Institute, International Automotive Components Group Ltd, Jaguar Land Rover Ltd, SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre Ltd, Capella Associates Ltd, Wincanton Plc, GLAS Business Solutions Ltd, develop-u, National Skills Academy for Food & Drink, Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd, 2 Sisters Food Group, Ricoh Europe Plc, TUI Group Plc, Gleeds Management Services Ltd, Royal Mail Group Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, nuvia Limited, Bee Lighting Ltd, Clevedon Fasteners Ltd, Stadco Ltd, Kraft Heinz Company, British Standards Institution, Morson International Ltd, Testlink Services Ltd, Rolls-Royce Controls and Data Services Ltd, Leonardo – Helicopter division

Typical job titles include:

Business Improvement Practitioner
Chemical Engineer
Civil Engineer
Continuous Improvement Manager
Environmental Compliance Manager
Environmental Construction Management
Environmental Data Analyst
Environmental Engineer
Environmental Health And Safety Officer
Geotechnical Engineer
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt And Quality Control Senior Analyst
Mechanical Engineer
Process Excellence Manager
Transportation Engineer
Environmental improvement compliance managereco
Environmental improvement construction managereco
Environmental improvement data analysteco
Environmental improvement engineereco
Environmental improvement health and safety officereco

Keywords:

Compliance
Improvement
Improvement Practitioner
Practitioner
Project Management

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

K1: Compliance: Legislative and customer compliance requirements including environment and health and safety
K2: Team formation & leadership: Decision-making techniques e.g. consensus, authority rule, majority rule
K3: Project management: Business case, risk analysis and management, toll-gate reviews, work breakdown structure, lessons learned, pilot studies, project review, process management and measures, benefits tracking
K4: Presentation & reporting: Reporting templates, message mapping, case for change
K5: Change management: Stakeholder identification, analysis and management (RACI). Change curve, resistance characteristics, change sponsorship, compelling point of view
K6: Principles & methods: Business value of Lean and Six Sigma improvement methods - 8D, practical problem solving, Define Measure Analyse Improve Control, Design for Six Sigma
K7: Project selection & scope: Y=f(x) equation (outputs are the result of inputs), business scorecard cascade
K8: Problem definition: Cost of Poor Quality, problem analysis models such as Is/Is Not
K9: Process mapping & analysis: Swim lane, value stream map, performance metrics – continuous, Parameter diagram, Takt time, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, theory of constraints principles, Kanban
K10: Data analysis – basic tools: Spreadsheets and pivot table analysis, statistical analysis software
K11: Measurement systems: Repeatability and Reproducibility principles
K12: Basic statistics & measures: Control charts - attribute data, principles of normality
K13: Data analysis - statistical methods: Measures of central tendency and spread
K14: Process capability & performance: Capability analysis – continuous data for normal distribution
K15: Root cause analysis: Key principles including symptoms, failure-mode, potential/verified cause, critical inputs, escape point. Graphical representation of data with dot, scatter and box plots
K16: Experimentation: Active versus passive analytics, design of experiments, experiment plan
K17: Identification & prioritisation: Selection and prioritisation matrix, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

S1: Compliance: Work in accordance with organisational controls and statutory regulations
S2: Communication: Speak and write clearly. Influence others, question effectively. Plan and deliver meetings presenting insight to engage audiences
S3: Coaching: Observe, listen, use questioning, provide feedback and spot learning opportunities
S4: Project management: Define, sequence, plan and schedule activities with phases and milestones. Estimate effort and duration. Create and update project charter. Review progress
S5: Change management: Sponsorship contract, surface and manage resistance, build compelling narratives for change, assess change impact
S6: Principals and Methods: Select and apply a structured method and appropriate improvement tools engaging with subject matter experts to deliver business benefits
S7: Project selection and Scoping: Support the identification of improvement opportunity and the scoping of these projects
S8: Problem definition: Support development of problem/opportunity statements
S9: Voice of the customer: Support application of techniques to identify and prioritise customers, their requirements and ensure balance against the stated and unstated needs of the business (Voice of the Business)
S10: Process mapping & analysis: Process map to measure and analyse flow and value. Identify interfaces, functional responsibilities and ownership. Use insight to identify potential opportunities and map future state
S11: Lean tools: Seek in-process waste through understanding of value within the value stream
S12: Measurements systems: Plan, carry out and assess results of a measurement system study
S13: Data acquisition for analysis: Develop a sampling strategy
S14: Basic statistics & measures: Use graphical analysis to understand distribution and stability
S15: Data analysis-statistical methods: Identify data-types and select analysis methods and tools. Assess time series data stability and analyse making relevant insight
S16: Process capability & performance: Select methods and metrics for analysis
S17: Root cause analysis: Select and apply the appropriate graphical tool dependent on the data type to identify patterns, trends and signals to establish hypothesis
S18: Experimentation & optimisation: Plan designed experiment with clear objectives, and appropriate levels of Measurement Systems Analysis, analyse experiment data and optimise
S19: Identification & prioritisation: Identify and prioritise factors, ideas and solutions
S20: Data analysis – SPC: Select and apply appropriate tools for ongoing monitoring and control. Analyse and interpret control charts
S21: Benchmarking: Conduct structured benchmarking to support target setting
S22: Sustainability & control: Identify failure modes and embed learning from improvements

B1: Drive for results: Continuous drive for change and encourages others to deliver results across functional areas capturing and standardising best practice
B2: Team-working: Awareness of own and others’ working styles. Creates high performing team
B3: Professionalism: Promotes a moral, legal and socially appropriate working manner, aligns behaviours to the organisations values. Maintains flexibility to needs of project
B4: Continuous development: Proactively seeks and acts on feedback. Reflects on performance and has a desire for development. Adapts quickly to working with new situations/stakeholders/challenges
B5: Safe working: Ensures safety of self and others, speaks out to challenge safety issues

Occupational Progression

This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.

In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.

It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.

Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.

Technical Occupations

Levels 2-3

Higher Technical Occupations

Levels 4-5

Professional Occupations

Levels 6-7

Progression link into focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 3

This is the focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 4

Progression link from focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 4

Progression link from focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 4

eco
Progression link from focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 4

Progression link from focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 5

eco
Progression link from focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 5

Progression link from focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 6

Progression link from focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 6

eco
Progression link from focused occupation.
assignment_turned_in

Level 6

Business and administration

Engineering and manufacturing