DEI
BY DAVID SUDOLSKY, BOLDR, INC.
WHY INCLUSIVE HIRING = SUCCESS
AND CONTACT CENTERS CAN SHOW THE WAY.
As an entrepreneur in the business process outsourcing( BPO) space and someone who has spent years building mission-driven teams, I’ ve seen firsthand how inclusive hiring isn’ t just the right thing to do. It’ s a powerful lever for contact center success.
Yet at a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion( DEI) initiatives are facing mounting scrutiny, many organizations are scaling back. That’ s a mistake. And the outsourcing contact center industry, in particular, has too much at stake to follow that retreat.
At my company, Boldr, we became a certified Minority Business Enterprise( MBE) not to make a statement, but to make our long-held values more visible. The certification helps formalize a belief that’ s guided us since day one. That is,
44 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK
representation isn’ t charity: it’ s strategy. And in this industry, it’ s a strategy that drives measurable business results.
THE ROLE CONTACT CENTERS CAN( AND SHOULD) PLAY
Contact centers are often the largest employers in the communities in which they operate. They offer accessible, entry-level opportunities to people from underrepresented backgrounds, creating potential onramps to long-term careers. But while frontline teams tend to reflect a community’ s diversity, the leadership levels rarely do. Even at Boldr, we have work to do on this.
That’ s a structural failure: and a business opportunity. When you intentionally hire, develop, and promote talent from historically marginalized communities, the entire contact center ecosystem improves customer outcomes, employee engagement, and yes, client satisfaction.
WHAT CLIENTS ACTUALLY WANT
Let’ s be honest: most clients don’ t ask about DEI in their request for proposals( RFPs). They ask about price and performance.
So, we don’ t try to“ sell” inclusion or our " Theory of Change " as a differentiator. Instead, we show them how it affects the bottom line:
• Programs staffed with culturally aligned teams consistently outperform on customer satisfaction( CSAT) and net promoter score( NPS).
• Team members( what we call contact center agents, see BOX) with shared lived experience resolve customer issues faster and with greater empathy. Resolving customer issues faster boosts customer experience( CX), revenue, and retention.
• Longer team member tenure reduces churn, builds institutional knowledge, and boosts productivity.
When contact center professionals are seen, heard, and developed, they stay longer. They care more. And they deliver better service, which drives not just customer satisfaction, but also loyalty and repeat business.
BUILD YOUR THEORY OF CHANGE. MAKE SURE YOUR DEI EFFORTS AREN ' T ISOLATED. TIE THEM TO BUSINESS METRICS AND MEASURABLE IMPACT.