William Hill Clarence resident William Hill became involved with implementing Six Sigma methodology, which promotes efficiency and effectiveness, in 1994 and served as director of Six Sigma Master Black Belts for Honeywell International. He also headed up the productivity and research center at the University of Wisconsin.

Upon retirement from Honeywell, he connected with leaders at the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County who urged him to join with them to use his knowledge to benefit the community.

“I was convinced it could be fun as well as valuable,” he said.

In conjunction with Joe Roccisano, director of agency relations for United Way of Buffalo, and Gail Calisto from Roccisano’s office, Hill developed a Six Sigma program that was geared toward nonprofit organizations.

“I’m just thrilled to be working with this group,” he said.

The program has offered Yellow Belt training, the basic level of Six Sigma education, to groups including the Food Bank of Western New York, Catholic Charities, Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Town of Clarence.

During the classes, the teams of participants learn to define and set goals, measure their success, analyze why the process their examining is not working as well as it could and develop an action plan to improve results. They have to complete a project successfully in order to receive their Six Sigma certification.

The Town of Clarence team set and met an objective of increasing participation by youth in recreation programs and enhancing satisfaction. An organization that helps the developmentally disabled wanted to reduce the time it took to hire new competent staff, cutting it from 12 weeks on average to just six, said Hill.

Most of the groups meet their objective, according to Hill.

In earlier years, Hill played hockey for Princeton University and for amateur teams in Canada as well as the United States. He said that as a hockey goalie who didn’t wear a mask, which was common at the time, he learned skills that are applicable to being a group facilitator. If you get a difficult question from an audience member, you have the same three options as a goalie facing a flying puck: jump and take it in the chest — address the question directly; duck — ask the person to wait until the question can be addressed at a later point; or freeze, the worst option.

Hill’s result-focused attitude translates to how he views the Six Sigma training. He looks for those who participate in the training to improve their efficiency and see an increase in productivity.

Hill said he hopes other nonprofits in the region will be interested in having representatives complete the Six Sigma training. Each class includes an average of six or seven teams made up of three to five people. For more information, contact the United Way at 887-2757.

If you have a suggestion for someone to feature in this column, send it to Andrea Kimbriel, editor, Clarence Bee, 5564 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14221 or call 204-4921.