Faculty Spotlight: Ed Hayes

The Value of Professional Certification: Villanova Professor Talks Lean, BI and BPM

Ed Hayes, CPBI, CLSSBB, MBA, has spent 38 years working for a law firm. He considers himself “very fortunate” to have been offered chances along the way to develop professionally and become an expert in continuous process improvement.

In a wide-ranging interview, Hayes talked about how he came to become an adjunct professor at Villanova University, teaching students in Business Intelligence, Business Process Management and Lean Six Sigma courses.

From Student to Teacher

Hayes started as a Business Process Management student in Villanova University’s College of Professional Studies in 2012. He said the online courses provided him “with tremendous insights, opportunities to learn, grow professionally and to share his knowledge with friends, family and colleagues.”

Later when he became a Villanova instructor, he learned that like himself, “many students had not previously been exposed to content bodies of knowledge but were very intrigued, receptive and interested in learning more.”

“Others I encountered were natural process thinkers and focused on improvement and just needed the tools, concepts and frameworks offered by Lean Six Sigma and other disciplines.”

Law Firm Experience

Before becoming an adjunct faculty member in 2017, Hayes worked for 38 years (and counting) for the Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm in Richmond, Virginia. Over the years, he acquired the knowledge and understanding of support management for the law firm, including client accounting, new business intake and data management.

He currently works as the firm’s Business Intelligence Data Manager.

Over the years, Hayes had opportunities to learn about process improvement. He took advantage. “In so doing, I acquired an eclectic and holistic view of law firm operations thereby fostering interests in continuous improvement, efficiency and systems thinking,” Hayes said.

“Along the way, I did a lot of informal training via reading and listening to books on leadership, organizational effectiveness, team building and how to add value to our organizations.”

When the recession hit in 2008, Hayes decided to seek more formal training and professional certifications. He went on to study Business Process Management, Lean Six Sigma, Project Management, Change Management, Business Intelligence and Agile Scrum.

He now is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified Professional in Business Intelligence, and a Certified Change Management Practitioner.

“I have been committed to lifelong learning. Likewise, I enjoy seeing others learn, grow and develop,” Hayes said. “I saw teaching at Villanova as an opportunity to be part of the professional growth of others committed to lifelong learning. To me, that is so rewarding. I enjoy keeping in touch with students to hear about their ongoing professional development and success.”

In the interview, Hayes discussed his approach to teaching and the value students can receive from online courses offered through Villanova University.

How do you incorporate your professional experience into your teaching?

I share experiences with my students that corroborate and reinforce the value and effectiveness of the knowledge they are learning. I stress that not everyone in their current organizations has the knowledge and insights that they are learning. Accordingly, our students need to be patient, sensitive to this and look for opportunities to share this knowledge in a respectful manner.

Also, I share with my students the painful lessons of working on projects and attempting to solve business problems without the benefit of the tools, concepts and bodies of knowledge I have acquired in recent years. I convey to my students how valuable this knowledge is and how it, in retrospect, could have enabled me to have made better decisions and be more effective as a manager in my firm.

Lastly, I convey to students that this journey of learning is a marathon and not a sprint. Invest the time and enjoy the ride – it will be well worth it!

How do you keep students engaged in a 100% online classroom and what do you enjoy most about teaching online?

When applicable, I find that encouraging students to share their experiences and insights with others enables them to network, foster empathy and reinforce the importance of the knowledge they are acquiring through these online courses. 

Many students are reluctant to speak in a virtual setting, so I use classroom polls to enable students to provide “risk free” answers and participate anonymously. 

I find it incredible that I have taught many students who are active military personnel serving overseas and continuing their education. In a recent Lean Six Sigma course, several of my students were serving in Afghanistan. To help our servicemembers, who are making great personal sacrifices and often serving under difficult circumstances, is so very rewarding to me.

Live class sessions are a staple of Villanova’s online certificate program offerings. Walk us through one and explain how they can benefit students. 

I use PowerPoint slides, many of which contain visuals to add clarity, beyond bullet points, to direct my live class sessions. In those slides, I hit several high points from the weekly learning modules and then bring in resources, anecdotes and academic materials to reinforce topics covered in the weekly module.

I also set aside Q&A segments at the beginning, middle and end of each live session. If the student participation leads the discussion into another direction, I go with it and depart from prepared lecture content. It’s the students’ time and I want to be agile and flexible to meet their interests and needs. 

The live class sessions provide students with a voice and resource to which they can target their questions and concerns. Also, I present insights and material, from my readings in books and journals, that is designed to stimulate thinking and generate interests beyond what is covered in the weekly modules. For example, as a Prosci-certified Change Management Practitioner, I introduce practical high-level concepts of change management along with the academic work of Dr. John Kotter to convey to students its importance in introducing change, launching new processes and systems. 

In addition to its Lean Six Sigma, Business Intelligence and Business Process Management certificate programs, Villanova is a certifying body for Lean Six Sigma, Business Intelligence and Business Process Management certification. Describe the benefits of earning a Villanova certification as a complement to the certificate program.

To me, the certification exam, versus just passing the course exams, is the true measure of mastering and understanding a body of knowledge. Having prepared for and taken two certification exams through Villanova, I found that the preparation enabled me to address my knowledge gaps, “put it all together” and crystalize my understanding of the knowledge. For instance, in preparing for Villanova’s Business Intelligence certification exam, I developed a better and holistic understanding of business intelligence as taught at Villanova, by re-reviewing the materials from the Essentials, Mastering and Advanced Business Intelligence courses. A few weeks later, I had a web meeting with a business intelligence vendor and understood the terminology used and concepts they were demonstrating. That experience was so reaffirming. 

I often tell my students that passing a professional certification exam tells their current and future employers that they made the necessary sacrifices, and devoted the time, resources and energy to master a body of knowledge sufficiently to pass a rigorous certification exam. This effort demonstrates focused energy, personal sacrifice and time commitment beyond our day jobs.

What intrigues you about the concepts and tools of Lean Six Sigma? Talk about its real-world application across multiple industries.

The combination of Lean and Six Sigma provides you with the tools and concepts to lead process improvement in an organization and make a difference. In this competitive world, differentiation from the competition is vitally important. 

I love the framework and disciplined approaches of Lean Six Sigma. The tools help keep problem-solvers on course and asking the right questions. 

What key takeaways should students expect to gain from the Lean Six Sigma program?

In addition to a myriad of practical tools and concepts, a student can gain self-confidence in feeling better equipped to address business problems and work toward their resolution. 

A colleague of mine from another law firm embraced Lean Six Sigma in his firm and provided incentives for staff to pursue Lean Six Sigma training and certification. He noticed the “swagger” that his staff brought to business problems.

Talk about how Six Sigma and Lean marry well with other process improvement approaches.

I often present a slide in my courses in which displays the disciplines of Lean, Six Sigma, Business Process Management, Project Management and Change Management. I cite how all these disciplines share one thing in common: improvement.

All these disciplines integrate nicely with each other and address respective gaps among them. For example, Six Sigma, with its statistical tools, is strong in measuring yet does not address, in my opinion, the people side of change. That’s where change management comes in. 

I am beginning to learn the fundamentals of Agile Scrum and see how it, too, can be valuable in continuous organizational improvement. 

What advice would you give students who are on the fence about enrolling in Villanova’s Certificate in Lean Six Sigma program?

My advice would be to decide early how far you want to proceed into the program: Lean Sensei, Six Sigma Green Belt or Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. I recommend taking the associated certification exam and going beyond a certificate of completion – there is a major difference.

In my experience, preparing for the certification exam will stretch you to learn and master the knowledge. I recall how my Black Belt instructor recommended 200 hours of study, after completing the 16-week course, to prepare for the certification exam. I ended up devoting approximately 250 hours over an eight-month period to prepare for and pass the Black Belt certification exam. The Black Belt certification has opened up opportunities here at Villanova and in my current organization that I otherwise would not have had. The certification jump-started my commitment to learning and got me off a professional development plateau. I wish that I had made the commitment to learning Lean Six Sigma years earlier. 

As to career value and to address student inquiries based upon anecdotal data, I subscribe to job alerts from Indeed.com and notice the demand for Lean Six Sigma Black Belts in many industries, both domestically and internationally. Most of these positions are looking for experienced Black Belts with a track record of success in applying Lean Six Sigma.

One last note: Don’t stop with Lean Six Sigma. Time and resources permitting, consider BPM, Business Intelligence, Applied Project Management and Agile.  You’ll be amazed with how differently you will view problem-solving at work. It is a great feeling to know that you have a tool, concept or framework in your skill set to address a business problem that comes across your desk.