Beyond Compliance: How Moving DEI to L&D Can Transform Contact Center Careers and Culture

I'm Alisha (Ali) Joseph & I've created this newsletter as a "safe space" for contact center leaders & professionals. I write about all the nuances & day-to-day chaos, challenges, wins, trends & needed changes with customer-facing teams (experience, support & success), specifically in startups. I "grew up" in startup contact center customer service from frontline to leadership, working with different BPOs, tech tiered teams, senior leadership etc. I share my unique experience & guidelines that will impact people in a positive way, drives quick wins in your day-to-day & continue to strive for department excellence in the ever-changing world of customer service!

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We've all seen the comments, positive & negative about DEI. In a "perfect" world we wouldn't even need to have this conversation if we got real about institutionalized racism & discrimination in the workplace instead of having 40 meetings on how to fix & implement (ya know REAL action). Traditionally, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) has typically been housed under HR/People Operations within most companies, focusing on policies, compliance, & recruitment. The ONE reflective question I have for folks who work full time in this space as well as company execs, CEO & leaders are: Have we gone about this the right way? Awhile back I read this really good book: The Inclusive Organization, by Netta Jenkins who advocates for placing DEI under Learning & Development (L&D) instead of People Operations & I found this perspective interesting. Then, I started thinking about this from a service team standpoint While this perspective may seem very unconventional, doing so, especially in contact centers, can actually drive career and operational growth in ways we may not have imagined.

Now don't get me wrong, this is NOT shade to my People Ops professionals. A large part of my leadership career was partnering with People Ops for various things: good, bad & sometimes UGLY, but these were also some of the best relationships, especially the People Ops leaders who just didn't stick to the "book" & actually thought "outside the box of HR" (Rosa if you're reading this, THANK YOU for always being my People Ops mentor). Reading Netta Jenkins's book & learning her perspective, it just made me think about where DEI could really show business & professional impact in a major way. So, let's dive into Netta's perspective while I talk about my favorite topic: contact center teams.

Why Learning & Development (Good Old L&D)?

Let's break down key wins for contact center service professionals if DEI was implemented this way:

1. Continuous Learning for a Fast-Paced Environment: Contact centers are fast-moving environments with high turnover and a constant need for upskilling. Embedding DEI within L&D ensures that inclusive behaviors, equity-focused leadership, and cultural competence aren’t one-off training sessions but integral to the learning journey of every employee. Instead of merely being a compliance checkbox, DEI becomes a continual, evolving part of an employee’s development and success in customer service roles.
2. Fostering Career Growth: Contact center employees often begin in entry-level roles with aspirations to move into leadership or other avenues of the business. With DEI housed under L&D, inclusive leadership behaviors can be reinforced from day one. Training programs can emphasize skills like empathy, cultural competence, and equity-driven decision-making—traits that are essential for leadership in today’s diverse workplaces.
3. Tailored Customer Service Training: Contact centers serve a wide variety of customers from different backgrounds, making cultural competence crucial. DEI training under L&D can be customized to help agents handle diverse customer interactions, respond with empathy, and resolve conflicts in ways that respect cultural nuances. This can significantly improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

How DEI in Learning & Development Can Improve Recruiting Efforts & Boost People Ops Collaboration

A major benefit of housing DEI under Learning & Development (L&D) is its potential to transform recruiting efforts in contact centers. Traditionally, DEI initiatives in recruitment have focused on diversifying candidate pools and ensuring equitable hiring processes. While this is important, embedding DEI within L&D can have a deeper, more lasting impact on how contact centers attract and retain talent.

Improving Recruiting Efforts Through DEI in L&D

1. Attracting Diverse Talent with a Learning-Focused Culture Modern job seekers—especially Millennials and Gen Z—are looking for more than just a paycheck. They want to work for organizations that prioritize development, inclusivity, and continuous learning. By embedding DEI within L&D, contact centers can build a reputation as inclusive employers that invest in their employees’ growth. This kind of culture appeals to top-tier talent across diverse backgrounds, helping to create a more dynamic and inclusive workforce.
2. Creating a More Inclusive Hiring Process DEI in L&D offers a unique opportunity to design and deliver training specifically for recruiters and hiring managers. Through inclusive hiring training, recruiters learn how to identify and remove unconscious biases, ensure job descriptions are inclusive, and conduct interviews that prioritize diverse perspectives. This kind of structured, behavior-focused training can dramatically improve the inclusivity of the hiring process itself.
3. Appealing to Candidates Interested in Career Development Contact centers often struggle to retain talent because of the high-stress nature of the job. However, candidates are more likely to stay if they see clear paths for growth and development. When DEI is integrated into L&D, it ensures that employees understand from day one that they are joining an organization committed to their long-term success—whether that’s through leadership opportunities, skill development, or inclusive work environments.

Boosting People Ops Collaboration with L&D and Operations Leaders

1. Aligning DEI with Strategic Hiring and Development Goals People Ops role in DEI doesn’t end with recruitment. By partnering with L&D, HR can ensure that the skills and behaviors emphasized in DEI training are also reflected in hiring, onboarding, and promotion decisions. This alignment helps create a cohesive talent development pipeline, where the values of inclusivity are reinforced at every stage—from recruitment to leadership.
2. Creating a Feedback Loop Between People Ops, L&D, and Operations: For DEI initiatives to succeed, there must be collaboration between People Ops, L&D, and operations leaders. HR can collect data on employee demographics, performance, and turnover, which L&D can then use to tailor its DEI programs. Operations leaders, meanwhile, provide real-time feedback on how DEI initiatives are impacting the day-to-day running of the contact center, ensuring continuous improvement.
3. Reinforcing DEI Values in Leadership Development People Ops, L&D, and operations leaders can work together to create leadership pathways that emphasize inclusive behaviors and equitable decision-making. By ensuring DEI training is aligned with the organization’s leadership development programs, future leaders are groomed not only for operational success but for fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace.

Potential Risks

There are always risks into anything we do to make impactful change. Some items to consider:

1. Dilution of DEI’s Strategic Impact One risk of moving DEI entirely to L&D is that it might become too focused on individual learning, losing its broader influence on organizational policies. DEI initiatives should still focus on structural change—such as equitable hiring practices, pay equity, and inclusive workplace policies—that L&D alone may not control. Without People Ops strategic oversight, some of these larger organizational goals could be overlooked.
2. Accountability Gaps People Ops typically manages measurable outcomes like diversity in hiring, promotion rates for underrepresented groups, and pay equity. If DEI shifts entirely to L&D, there could be a gap in accountability for these metrics, potentially slowing progress on key diversity goals.
3. Perception as Just Another Training Another risk is that employees might begin to see DEI as just another training module rather than a fundamental business priority. If not reinforced as a strategic value throughout the organization, DEI might be viewed as something separate from the company's core mission.

Evolve How We Recruit, Train & Retain Talent

Housing DEI under Learning & Development has the potential to revolutionize contact center service teams, creating a work environment where inclusivity is a continuous journey. It can enhance recruiting efforts by signaling a commitment to growth and inclusivity, strengthen HR collaboration by creating strategic alignment across departments, and ensure that DEI values are deeply ingrained in both the workforce and leadership.

This approach could be a game changer for contact centers looking to reduce turnover, improve operational performance, and create inclusive environments where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

• What would be the biggest challenge in shifting DEI from People Ops to L&D in your organization?
• How can People Ops & L&D work together to ensure DEI stays a strategic priority while becoming a learning initiative?
• Have you seen examples of inclusive leadership training that have successfully fostered both career growth and operational efficiency? If so, how?

By creating a learning-centric approach to DEI, contact centers can build teams that are not only operationally successful but also diverse, inclusive, and empowered to grow. Could this be the future of talent development in service teams? Let’s continue the conversation. If you enjoyed the content of this week's Coffee, Chaos & Customer Support newsletter article, feel free to share & leave your thoughts. The more we share & discuss, the more attention & action that can be pushed. Have a great week!