Systems, Safety, and Self-Advocacy: Navigating the Modern Workplace
As a generation born in South Africa mostly after 1994, transformation is probably a term you have come across quite often. The promise of transformation, the need for it and the great gap that stands in the way of it are all part of your lived experience. However, do you understand what it means? Do you understand how it is supposed to look like in a work environment and how you are meant to contribute to it.
Transformation is the greater umbrella concept under which Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) fall. Its purpose is to correct the legacy of inequality and form the foundation of a healthy, productive and sustainable work environment of shared participation. DEIB are based on the understanding and Constitutional right that all employees have to be treated fairly and not be discriminated against according to any part of their identity. Yet, many entry-level job seekers may find themselves feeling the pressure to shrink their identities, stay silent about their needs, or fit into a rigid professional box just to secure and maintain a position.
In a recent conversation, Kally Mabe, DEIB Expert, Director of the South African LGBT+ Management Forum, and former cyber risk and information security specialist, he shared how young professionals can embrace multidisciplinary paths, evaluate workplace culture, and self-advocate effectively.
You Don’t Have to Fit Into a Single Box
Something we keep saying at Lucha Lunako: you do not have to do or be only one thing. Many entry-level job seekers believe a career must follow a linear path or fit under one qualification. Kally’s own career spans technical security controls, organisational risk and full-time DEIB strategy, which are fields that seem distinct on the surface, but share a fundamental core: how human beings interact with systems.
“A career can be built through learning, experience, curiosity, transferable skills, passion, resistance, leadership support, sponsorship, and delivery. One qualification does not have to contain the whole of your future.” — Kally Mabe
Whether breaking into specialised tech fields or shifting toward human-centric roles, focus on finding the core question that connects your strengths.
Understanding DEIB: Infrastructure vs. Lived Experience
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) are often grouped together, but understanding how psychological safety leads to greater feelings of belonging is key for everyone involved.
1. Belonging is the everyday experience of participating fully without trading away dignity, identity, or safety. It is visible in simple moments:
- Having your name used correctly
- Asking questions without judgment
- Receiving constructive feedback
- Knowing that reporting exclusion won’t lead to retaliation
2. Psychological Safety allows you to learn, speak up and disclose mistakes without fear of humiliation. When an entry-level worker feels unsafe, significant cognitive energy is redirected from actual work toward self-protection.
How to Evaluate Workplace Culture During Interviews
You don’t need to overshare personal details or disclose your identity to determine if a prospective employer is safe. Privacy is an essential part of safety.
Instead, ask targeted questions during the interview to test how their systems operate under real conditions
Key Signal: Pay attention to whether the company describes inclusion purely through campaign slogans or can clearly explain how their everyday policies and support systems function.
Practical Tools for Early-Career Self-Advocacy
Self-advocacy is all about communicating needs, setting boundaries and leveraging established organisational processes.
- Separate Disclosure from Advocacy: Focus on the need, its impact on your work and the practical support required rather than sharing sensitive personal background when it may not be necessary.
- Put Requests in Writing: Keep a clear, factual record of commitments, agreements and requests. Even when an agreement has been made orally in person, send a follow-up email detailing what was spoken about and agreed.
- Learn the Policies: Identify the official HR channels, workplace policies and support benefits available to you.
- Prepare for Key Conversations: Outline your points beforehand and bring a trusted support person or representative into complex discussions when procedures permit.
Bottom-Up Allyship: Shaping Everyday Culture
While leadership remains accountable for systemic safety, entry-level employees can practice daily peer-to-peer inclusion:
- Practice Basics: Learn and correctly use colleagues’ names and pronouns; credit ideas accurately in meetings.
- Counter Friction: Challenge demeaning jokes constructively and avoid gossiping about colleagues’ identities or personal health.
- Extend Influence: When you notice a peer facing an unnecessary barrier, help address the root cause by bringing evidence to the manager or process owner who can change it.
With that said, it is important to recognise that where a contract has been signed, you have committed by law to show up in a certain way at specified times for a determined duration and to complete the tasks outlined. There may be many times where life happens and makes it difficult to show up in the ways we are supposed to. Sure, we are all human, navigating our individual complexities intertwined with greater social problems that affect us all in one way or another. At the same time, this also does not mean that sub-par performance or lacking accountability are acceptable.
The workplace is supposed to be a mutually beneficial exchange where each party gives and receives in return. There is still much to fix as far as DEIB is concerned; at the same time, there is a shared responsibility and commitment that need to be upheld by all parties involved.
