Workplace Diversity and Inclusion: Tips from a Change Agent

CSU Global graduate student and Diversity Change Agent Nichelle Rogers addresses how everyone plays a necessary role in workplace diversity and inclusion efforts.

Diversity change agents (DCA) envision a workforce that engages and embraces every employee as a valuable contributor. We seek to cultivate diversity in organizations, not only in the front line but in the C-suite as well.

We are trained to assist in efforts that educate the workforce, to advance diversity and inclusion initiatives. We want to help transform the workplace into a more embracing and welcoming environment for all employees. As a woman and a minority, these efforts are important to me, especially while I am pursuing my Master’s in Organizational Leadership at Colorado State University-Global Campus.

I’ve been a DCA since 2012, and many of the materials I’ve read over the years address how to assist others in adopting  a new culture or initiative — but how can that be done if we aren’t first transforming ourselves? This transformation must happen in diversity, inclusion, and engagement.

Diversity & Inclusion Transformation

In her five-part series about the “Illusion of Inclusion” in the Diversity Journal, Dr. Helen Turnbull offered this explanation for diversity and inclusion: “…diversity is the mix and inclusion is the effort that it takes to make the mix work.”

Here are three lessons I learned for transforming the demonstration of diversity and inclusion in the workplace:

• Live what you learn – Follow the guidelines laid out in something like The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg, to create new habits that model the behaviors you seek from others.
• Progress in reality – Be honest with yourself and others about biases, barriers, and challenges so you can address the reality of the situation rather than assumptions.
• Strive for perfection, and achieve excellence – In striving for perfection, we can achieve excellence in our actions toward others.   

Engagement Seals the Deal

Through engagement in my courses, with both instructors and other students, I’ve been gleaning real-world experiences as we learn about leadership, power, and influence in the workplace. It is empowering to see how other women have implemented key concepts or how other minorities have successfully navigated organizational structures to become leaders.

Over my past two years at CSU Global, I’ve learned that regardless of the transformation efforts in diversity and inclusion, none of them will have a chance of succeeding without engagement. I like to think of engagement as not only inviting someone to the party, but also asking them to dance. In my profession as a Communication and Change Management Supervisor, here are two things I try to remember when engaging others:

• Use disagreements to improve – Frederick Douglass said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”  Sometimes we must have conversations that can be uncomfortable, awkward, and filled with tension. I learned that judgments must be removed from the situation to realize the improvements that can come from these discussions.
• Speak to purpose – At times, our jobs are not necessarily in line with our individual purposes, and we may not use skills that make us feel engaged or fulfilled in our jobs.  We can, however, find ways to incorporate our purposes into our roles. Consider looking into an organization like Imperative, which helps transform people and professions through purpose.

True transformation in diversity, inclusion, and engagement requires that we start with changing ourselves. Manifest success by first being the change you seek in others!