Dan Henson, vice president and chief quality officer, GE Capital, provided this answer:

Actually, a large number of black belts (BBs) and master black belts (MBBs) have already taken new assignments since the launch of our quality program. Quality is one of those areas that offers a great deal of career choices for employees. Since what they do overlaps with other functions, like marketing or finance, many find their next assignments in those areas. This also benefits those departments as they now have employees who have expertise in process excellence. Conversely, quality personnel also have the option of shooting for a career in quality by moving from BB to MBB and/or being assigned to more challenging areas within the business (such as a major Design for Six Sigma project). In either case, the important thing is that the experience these people gain in their time in quality is something they can apply throughout their careers.