The Hidden Value of ROI in Process Improvement
Process improvement has a branding problem. When leaders hear “Lean Six Sigma,” they often picture tools, templates and a lot of time spent mapping workflows. If they’re supportive, they’ll say yes because it feels like the responsible thing to do. If they’re skeptical, they’ll ask the question that shuts projects down fast: What’s the ROI?
Most teams treat ROI like a finish line. First we improve the process, then we calculate the return.
But ROI isn’t only a measurement you report at the end. In strong Lean Six Sigma work, ROI is a discipline you use at the beginning, a filter you apply in the middle and a decision trigger you return to when the project starts to drift.
It’s not theoretical either. Villanova faculty member Marv Meissner has seen it repeatedly across dozens of Lean Six Sigma projects. “It has been my experience that every dollar invested in process improvement yields an average return of eight dollars. Some colleagues report the return to be as high as ten dollars for every dollar invested.”
That’s exactly why ROI belongs in your selection criteria.
Why ROI gets misunderstood in improvement work
ROI can sound like finance language bolted onto an operational problem. A checkbox to satisfy leadership. A number that shows up in a deck after the real work is done.
The trouble is, when ROI is treated as an afterthought, process improvement gets pulled toward what’s easiest to fix, not what’s most valuable to fix.
Teams optimize what they can measure quickly. They focus on cycle time because it’s visible. They reduce touches because it’s countable. They standardize because it’s clean.
All good outcomes. Even meaningful outcomes.
But not always the outcomes your organization needs.
ROI forces a harder question early on: What does better look like in a way that changes business performance?
ROI in plain English
ROI is a simple idea with a lot of emotional baggage.
At its core, ROI is the relationship between what you invest and what you get back. In process improvement, that “investment” isn’t only dollars. It’s time, attention, change fatigue, training effort and political capital.
The “return” isn’t only a savings estimate. It’s capacity recovered, risk reduced, customer loyalty protected, rework eliminated and decisions made faster with fewer handoffs.
The quiet ways ROI protects a project
Most Lean Six Sigma projects don’t fail because the analysis was wrong. They fail because the project got diluted.
ROI helps prevent that dilution in three practical ways.
1. It keeps the problem statement honest
A lot of improvement work starts with a symptom:
- “We’re behind.”
- “This takes too long.”
- “Everyone is frustrated.”
ROI forces the next layer:
- Behind relative to what cost?
- Too long for which customers and which outcomes?
- Frustrated because we’re wasting time or because the process creates risk?
This matters because risk and quality aren’t abstracts. They show up as measurable leakage. McKinsey describes a financial institution that reduced the cost of poor-quality outcomes by 30% and rework by 60% through operational excellence work.
When you connect the pain to an outcome leadership cares about, you’re more likely to solve the right problem, not just the loudest one.
2. It creates scope boundaries that teams can defend
Scope creep often happens because people see a project as a rare chance to fix everything.
ROI gives you a way to say no without sounding dismissive:
“That’s a real issue, but it won’t move the ROI.”
“That adds complexity without improving the return.”
“Let’s park it for a Phase 2 once we protect the core outcome.”
A project with clear ROI can hold its shape under pressure.
3. It keeps solutions from drifting into overengineering
Improvement teams love elegant solutions. Leaders love outcomes.
ROI keeps you aligned with outcomes when the elegant solution is expensive, slow to implement or hard to sustain.
A client for consulting firm Bain & Company shows why: a manufacturing improvement effort delivered 15% cost savings, 25% higher equipment effectiveness and 30% increased capacity when initiatives were prioritized and sequenced for impact.
That kind of return is rarely the result of the most elegant fix. It’s usually the result of the most disciplined fix.
The ROI you should be looking for, but probably aren’t
Most organizations default to a narrow ROI story: labor savings, budget reductions, headcount avoided.
Those can be real, but they aren’t the only returns that matter. In some environments, they aren’t even the most valuable ones.
Here are four ROI categories that tend to be undercounted, even when they’re driving the real business value.
1. Capacity ROI
Not “we saved money,” but “we reclaimed time.”
A better process often gives you capacity you can reinvest in work that moves the organization forward: higher-value service, faster response, fewer escalations, more proactive work.
If you don’t quantify capacity, it disappears back into the calendar, and no one feels the improvement.
2. Risk ROI
Many of the most valuable improvements don’t make work faster. They make failure less likely.
Think compliance exposure, contractual risk, safety incidents, data errors, customer churn or reputational damage. Risk ROI is harder to model but often easier to explain because the downside is so expensive when it hits.
This category is especially easy to ignore until you see the price tag of consistency and error. Gartner has estimated that poor data quality costs organizations $12.9 million per year on average.
That’s a strong reminder that “process quality” often includes the data that runs through the process, not just the process map itself.
3. Customer ROI
Customer value may not equate to revenue gained in a quarter. Look for it to show up as fewer complaints, fewer returns, fewer “where is my order” emails, higher renewal rates, and stronger referrals.
Lean Six Sigma can make customer experience measurable in ways teams rarely operationalize without it.
4. Decision ROI
This is the return from reducing ambiguity and friction in how work is approved, escalated and resolved.
Shorter decision cycles can unlock speed across the organization, even when the process steps remain the same.
Remember, ROI isn’t just a number. It’s a learning loop
One of the smartest things you can do in improvement work is to treat ROI like a hypothesis:
- Start with a baseline.
- Estimate the return.
- Validate assumptions as you learn.
- Revise the model as the process reveals what’s actually happening.
This is where Lean Six Sigma moves from toolkit to leadership discipline.
The leadership move: make ROI visible before the project starts
If you want Lean Six Sigma work to be funded, adopted and sustained, don’t wait until the end to talk about ROI.
Bring ROI into the early conversations:
- When you choose what to work on
- When you define scope
- When you evaluate solution options
- When you manage stakeholder expectations
- When you decide whether to scale or stop
That’s the hidden value.
ROI doesn’t just justify process improvement. It keeps process improvement pointed at what matters most.
Turn Lean Six Sigma into ROI with Villanova University
If you’re thinking about how to build ROI discipline into the way your team improves, Lean Six Sigma training can help you do it with structure and credibility.
Villanova University’s Lean Six Sigma portfolio is designed for working professionals at every stage, whether you’re building foundational fluency, progressing toward your next belt, expanding into enterprise-level improvement leadership, or designing new processes using DFSS and an Agile mindset.
Villanova’s Lean Six Sigma Programs Include:
Across our offerings, you’ll learn from practitioner faculty, apply tools to real workplace challenges and develop the judgment to prioritize the work that delivers measurable impact.
About Villanova University’s College of Professional Studies: Founded in 2014, the College of Professional Studies (CPS) provides academically rigorous yet flexible educational pathways to high-achieving adult learners who are balancing professional and educational aspirations with life’s commitments. The CPS experience embodies Villanova’s century-long commitment to making academic excellence accessible to students at all stages of life. Students in CPS programs engage with world-class Villanova faculty, including scholars and practitioners, explore innovative educational technologies and experiences, and join an influential network of passionate alumni. In addition to its industry-leading programs at the nexus of theory and practice, CPS has built a reputation for its personal approach and supportive community that empowers adult students to enrich their lives, enhance their value in the workplace, and embark on new careers.
PURSUE THE NEXT YOU™ and visit cps.villanova.edu for more information about the college, including a full list of education and program offerings.