WHY TEAM MEMBERS INSTEAD OF AGENTS OR REPS?
It’ s important to underscore the point that we’ re not just asking our clients to ethically outsource. You might say we’ re a living laboratory for the solutions we recommend.
That is, from leadership right through every level and specialty, our team is drawn from around the world. We wanted the best team, and that means proximity is not at the top of our job descriptions. Our values inform every aspect of our business: and how we measure success.
A THEORY OF CHANGE POWERS BUSINESS
What makes this work isn ' t just a strong set of values, it ' s structure. We built our Theory of Change to provide a strategic framework that aligns business growth with long-term impact. It guides how we create value for our clients, team members, and communities.
DEI
WHY TEAM MEMBERS INSTEAD OF AGENTS OR REPS?
So why do we use“ team members” rather than other terms like“ agents” or“ customer service representatives” to describe those professionals who are serving customers over communications channels?
We employ team members to reflect our human-centered, values-driven approach emphasizing dignity, inclusion, and partnership over hierarchy or commodification. The language reinforces that every individual is a valued contributor to the client’ s success: not just a task performer.
Here’ s why other contact centers may want to consider doing the same:
• Builds a culture of respect.“ Team member” conveys equality and shared purpose, boosting morale and fostering a sense of belonging.
• Improves retention and engagement. When employees feel respected and included, they’ re more likely to stay, grow and go the extra mile for customers.
• Strengthens employer branding. The terminology signals( to recruits and clients) that the company values people over process, which resonates with modern workforce expectations.
• Enhances client confidence. Clients increasingly want to partner with socially responsible providers; using“ team member” reinforces an ethical, people-first brand.
All told, this language fosters a subtle but powerful shift aligning language with values: transforming contact centers from cost centers into purpose-driven people organizations.
We evaluate:
• Who are we supporting?
• How are we supporting them?
• What are the measurable impacts?
This approach anchors our decision-making. It’ s why we offer living wages across our global operations. It’ s why we track salary velocity – how quickly an individual’ s compensation increases over time – and why we evaluate internal promotion rates across gender and ethnicity.
Today, over 53 % of our leaders are women, a figure well above the industry norm. And our retention rates, especially in provincial markets like Tacloban( Philippines), consistently outperform global benchmarks.
Our Theory of Change cascades to impact our clients, affecting client lifetime value, retention, and how they scale their business with us.
This isn’ t theory. It’ s working. And, again, it’ s scalable!
HOW IT SHOWS UP FOR CLIENTS
We have developed a partnership model that delivers ethical, integrated outsourcing through values-driven collaboration, fair employment practices, and a flexible, impact-focused service approach.
The clients that lean into this model are open to seeing the impact of culturally aligned teams and tend to get the best outcomes:
• Faster resolution times because team members bring cultural context to complex conversations.
• Deeper brand affinity, especially when values are aligned.
• Improved training ROI, as long-tenured employees absorb and transfer knowledge more effectively.
We know it may not be easy for an organization to suddenly and fully lean into this partnership model, and that’ s okay.
Many companies, especially those experiencing BPO rehab – that is, moving from one outsourced solution to another – take an iterative approach. For instance, partnering with us for a contact center serving one country or division, perfecting the transition and integration, and then building outward from there.
Contact center professionals already know how important trust and consistency are to successful operations. Inclusive hiring, tied to business performance, helps build both.
LESSONS FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS AND OPERATORS
If you manage, hire, or build within a contact center environment, here’ s what I’ d recommend:
1. Build your theory of change. Make sure your DEI efforts aren’ t isolated. Tie them to business metrics and measurable impact. When inclusion is integrated into your core strategy, it survives leadership changes and political cycles.
2. Measure with integrity. Track outcomes like wage progression, promotion rates, attrition by demographic and more. And don’ t shy away from asking hard questions about unintended consequences, like whether night shifts pose long-term health risks in certain geographies.
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