Driver Your Career With Operations Excellence

Operations excellence is all about process efficiency, optimization, and improvement. It is a skill set that is now driving career growth and success. If you’re looking to transition your career in India today, then the Operations Excellence career path is one of the most promising opportunities. Here’s why.

Operations excellence roles don’t require a specialized degree. A general management/business administration degree with a major in operations and supply chain management is all you need to qualify for mid-level positions and above. The salaries in this domain range from 8-12 lakhs per annum and can easily go up to 25 lakhs to 30 lakhs per annum depending on experience and qualifications.

Real-Life Transitions: Motivating Examples

What’s the most inspiring way to understand why Operations Excellence is such a desirable career choice? Learning about successful career transitions of professionals who made the switch and are now living their best life. Here are two such stories to get you motivated.

An engineer, who had been working on the software development side of operations for the last five years, decided to switch careers when the market went south with the pandemic. He took a course in supply chain management, studied the basics of operations excellence, and was hired by a mid-scale organization at a senior position within six months. What made his transition successful was his adaptive approach. He was hardworking, dedicated, and open to learning different skills.

There is also the example of a B.Tech graduate who was working as an analyst in a large corporate set-up. She realized that she was working in a role that need not necessarily involve her engineering background and decided to make the switch to operations excellence. She too took a short course to understand the subject and within months landed a job in a mid-sized organization. She was hired as the lead manager of the operations team, further bolstering her confidence. She got to use her knowledge of engineering to bridge the gaps between different business units and establish efficient processes.

Overcoming The Challenges

The most difficult part of transitioning to a career in operations excellence is to understand the domain. A lot of people get graph theory confused with linear programming and end up with more confusion. While it’s true that you don’t need a specialized degree for operations excellence roles, you do need a strong base. Here are a few tips to help you understand the basics and decide whether or not this is the right career for you.

• Study the core concepts of operations excellence: economics, finance, and accounting; Six Sigma and Lean; data analytics and machine learning; robotic process automation; and process standardization and optimization.
• Read relevant books and articles to stay updated with innovations and better understand the basics.
• Make a career plan that gives you the time to study and prepare while still working in your current job.
• Build a strong network through online forums and job boards.
• Volunteer or undertake internships to gain the required experience.

Making The Transition

Transitioning to a career in operations excellence requires careful planning and discipline. And it requires understanding the skill set and the business side of operations. Here are a few actionable steps that you can take to make the transition:

• Develop a portfolio to showcase the skills and experience you build over time.
• Enrol in short-term certification courses to understand the industry and stay abreast of skill development.
• Create a clear career path and plan it out step-by-step.
• Talk to industry professionals in the operations excellence field and gain insights into the do’s and don’ts of the field.
• Start following the latest innovations in Operations Excellence.

Conclusion

There’s a lot of optimism surrounding roles in operations excellence and the salary packages are indeed very attractive. If you’re ready to take up the challenge and start the transition from your current role, then the operations excellence path is definitely worth considering.

It goes without saying that the transition isn’t going to be easy. You’ll have to unlearn a lot and then start from scratch. The process can be challenging and intimidating at times, but with the right guidance, diligent planning, and hard work, you can be successful and drive your career in the direction of operations excellence.