This week, the UK observes National Inclusion Week 2026 under the theme “Build Trust. Navigate Change.” Against a backdrop of AI disruption, changing working practices and growing scrutiny of DEI, employers are being encouraged to turn inclusion commitments into everyday actions that employees can see, feel and trust.
Organisations across the UK are being encouraged to strengthen workplace trust and keep inclusion moving forward as National Inclusion Week 2026 gets underway from 14–20 September. Founded by Inclusive Employers in 2013, the annual campaign brings organisations together to celebrate inclusion, inspire conversations and encourage practical action to create workplaces where people feel valued, respected and able to contribute.
This year’s theme, “Build Trust. Navigate Change.”, reflects a workplace environment being reshaped by artificial intelligence, changing working practices, tighter resources and increasing scrutiny of diversity, equity and inclusion. But the bigger challenge for employers is what happens once the week is over.
As a recent Fair Play Talks National Inclusion Week guest column highlighted, workplace trust cannot be created through a single awareness campaign. Employees ultimately judge inclusion through what they experience every day, particularly when organisations are undergoing change.
WHY TRUST MATTERS MORE DURING CHANGE
Trust becomes especially important when employees face uncertainty. Restructuring, technological change, return-to-office policies, new working practices and budget pressures can all affect people’s sense of security and belonging.
Employees are likely to pay attention not only to what leaders decide, but to how those decisions are communicated, whether different employee needs are considered and whether people feel safe challenging decisions or asking for support. That makes trust much more than an employee engagement issue. It is increasingly central to leadership, organisational change and responsible business.
It also explains why psychological safety matters. A workplace may appear calm while employees remain reluctant to raise concerns because they fear negative consequences or simply do not believe speaking up will lead to meaningful change. As Javed Thomas, Founder of The Collaboratory, argued in his National Inclusion Week column, silence should not automatically be interpreted as satisfaction.
INCLUSION IS FACING GROWING PRESSURE
This year’s National Inclusion Week also arrives as DEI programmes face significant pressure. Recent research found that one in five companies had cut DEI programmes. The consequences extended beyond the programmes themselves.
Among organisations scaling back DEI activity, 47% reported lower morale, 36% lower retention of diverse talent and 35% a reduced ability to attract employees from underrepresented groups. Those findings highlight the risk of viewing inclusion as an optional corporate initiative that can be removed without affecting wider organisational culture.
Yet there is also evidence that organisations maintaining long-term commitments can continue progressing despite the wider backlash. The 2026 Workplace Pride Global Benchmark showed that leading employers continued advancing LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion despite growing DEI pressures.
Although the benchmark’s overall median score declined, a number of organisations continued improving, demonstrating the importance of sustained leadership, accountability and embedding inclusion into everyday business practice.
GROWING INCLUSION GAPS
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges facing employers is a growing gap between what organisations say about inclusion and what employees actually experience. Previous reports have found that Gen Z employees remained unimpressed with workplace inclusion efforts, with LGBTQ+ Gen Z workers giving employers an average C+ grade for inclusion, compared with a B from other generations.
Employees reporting poorer workplace experiences were also significantly more likely to consider leaving. That distinction between intent and lived experience runs through much of the latest workplace inclusion research.
Latest research from Birkbeck, University of London and Neurodiversity in Business, found that neurodivergent workers continue to experience poorer wellbeing, psychological safety and work-life balance despite increased employer attention to neuroinclusion. Psychological safety – previously identified as the strongest driver of wellbeing, career satisfaction and retention among neurodivergent workers – has not improved.
The research also found that 38% of neurodivergent employees had received a return-to-office mandate, and more than half of those affected said it had made them reconsider staying with their employer. The findings provide a timely illustration of the central National Inclusion Week challenge: greater awareness does not necessarily equal greater inclusion.
MANAGERS ARE KEY TO INCLUSION
Policies and corporate commitments only go so far. For many employees, inclusion is experienced through their direct manager. Yet significant capability gaps remain.
Separate Acas and YouGov research found that only 32% of employees believe their organisation effectively trains managers to identify and make reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent colleagues. By contrast, 35% described their employer as ineffective and another 32% did not know how effective its training was.
That reinforces recent studies showing that seven in 10 UK employers lack training in at least one key area relating to disability discrimination or neurodiversity. Half had not trained managers on disability discrimination, while 57% had provided no neurodiversity training to staff.
Managers make many of the everyday decisions that determine whether inclusion is actually experienced, from allocating work and managing performance to responding to concerns, agreeing flexibility and implementing reasonable adjustments. That makes manager capability one of the most practical places organisations can invest during and beyond National Inclusion Week.
ADDRESSING DISCRIMINATION
National Inclusion Week also provides employers with an opportunity to look beyond policies and examine whether discrimination is being challenged consistently. Recent reports of rising racism experienced by NHS workers and employees across the wider UK labour market highlighted the scale of the problem.
TUC research cited in the article found that among Black workers, 41% had experienced racist jokes or “banter”, 36% racist remarks and 35% verbal abuse, while more than a quarter had experienced physical violence, threats or intimidation. An inclusive employer cannot simply encourage employees to “bring their whole selves to work”.
It also needs systems capable of protecting people when discrimination happens, responding properly when concerns are raised and holding inappropriate behaviour to account. Without that accountability, appeals for openness and authenticity risk becoming hollow.
ALLYSHIP NEEDS TO HAPPEN EVERY DAY
The same principle applies to allyship. As Fair Play Talks explored around International Allyship Day, meaningful allyship requires more than supportive messages during awareness campaigns. It involves challenging discrimination, listening when colleagues describe barriers, sharing responsibility for creating inclusive cultures and taking action even when the issue does not directly affect you. Those barriers can relate to race, gender, disability, neurodivergence, age, LGBTQ+ identity, religion or socio-economic background.
But inclusion also needs to recognise less visible experiences, including chronic illness, menopause, caring responsibilities and other circumstances colleagues may not immediately see. That is particularly important because the responsibility for improving inclusion should not continually fall on employees from underrepresented groups themselves.
AI TESTS TRUST & INCLUSION
Artificial intelligence is also changing the context in which organisations need to think about inclusion. As employers redesign roles, automate tasks and introduce new tools, decisions about AI adoption can have significant consequences for employees.
Some workers may require additional training. Others may worry about job security, surveillance, bias or whether they can safely admit using AI. Inclusive change therefore means asking not only what technology can do, but who may be advantaged, disadvantaged or excluded by the way it is introduced.
It also requires employers to maintain human judgement and channels through which employees can question decisions. This is one reason why trust is becoming increasingly important as workplaces adopt AI.
Employees are more likely to engage constructively with change when leaders communicate openly about why it is happening, acknowledge uncertainty and provide people with meaningful opportunities to influence how new systems affect their work.
NATIONAL INCLUSION WEEK 2026 EVENTS
Inclusive Employers is supporting National Inclusion Week with resources and activities designed to help organisations translate this year’s theme into practice. The programme includes sessions exploring issues such as inclusion in an AI-enabled workplace, the skills employees will need for the future, constructive conversations across difference and inclusive leadership during uncertainty.
Together, those subjects illustrate how much the inclusion agenda has evolved. Workplace inclusion can no longer easily be separated from leadership, technology, skills, employee wellbeing and organisational transformation.
FIRST NATIONAL INCLUSION WEEK AWARDS
National Inclusion Week 2026 will also feature the inaugural National Inclusion Week Awards, with the ceremony taking place in London on 17 September. The awards are designed to recognise organisations, leaders, colleague networks and initiatives demonstrating progress on workplace inclusion.
The introduction of the awards represents an interesting evolution of the campaign itself. Awareness remains important, but organisations are increasingly expected to demonstrate impact, accountability and measurable progress.
WHAT EMPLOYERS CAN DO DURING NATIONAL INCLUSION WEEK
Employers do not necessarily need another major campaign or programme to make National Inclusion Week meaningful. A more valuable approach may be to identify one or two barriers that genuinely affect employees and commit to changing them.
Ask where trust is weakest
Find out whether employees feel safe raising concerns, admitting mistakes, challenging decisions or asking for help. Importantly, look at differences between employee groups rather than relying only on organisation-wide averages.
Listen to lived experience
Employee networks, listening sessions, surveys and individual conversations can identify barriers leaders may never personally encounter. Listening must also be followed by visible action.
Equip line managers
Managers need practical skills to handle conversations about disability, neurodivergence, discrimination, wellbeing, flexibility and workplace adjustments. Training should give them confidence as well as legal knowledge.
Review organisational change through an inclusion lens
Consider whether restructuring, return-to-office requirements, AI adoption or changes to working practices could disproportionately affect particular groups. Equal treatment does not always produce equitable outcomes.
Make workplace adjustments easier
Complex systems can discourage people from seeking support. Review whether employees know how to request adjustments, whether decisions are made consistently and whether some support could be made universally available.
Challenge discrimination consistently
That means addressing inappropriate behaviour whether it comes from colleagues, managers, customers, clients or members of the public.
Support employee networks properly
Employee networks can provide invaluable insight and community, but employers should recognise the time and emotional labour involved rather than relying on volunteers to carry responsibility for organisational inclusion.
Look beyond visible difference
Inclusion strategies should recognise disabilities and circumstances that may not immediately be apparent, including neurodivergence, chronic illness, menopause and caring responsibilities.
Measure what happens after people speak up
The number of people who contribute to a survey or listening session tells employers relatively little if nothing changes afterwards. Track actions, communicate progress and explain when something cannot be changed.
Commit to something beyond the week
Choose an action that can be reviewed in three or six months. National Inclusion Week should be the starting point for change, not its deadline.
WHY NATIONAL INCLUSION WEEK MATTERS IN 2026
The value of National Inclusion Week is not that seven days can transform workplace culture. They cannot. Its value lies in creating a moment for organisations to reflect honestly on where progress has stalled, where employees still encounter barriers and what needs to happen next.
The wider evidence suggests that employees are increasingly able to distinguish between inclusion as corporate messaging and inclusion as lived experience.
DEI cuts can affect morale and retention. Younger employees remain sceptical of workplace inclusion efforts. Neurodivergent workers continue to report poorer psychological safety and wellbeing despite growing awareness.
Manager training gaps persist. Racism and other forms of workplace discrimination remain very real. Yet leading employers are also demonstrating that sustained inclusion efforts can continue to deliver progress even during periods of political, economic and organisational pressure. That makes the “Build Trust. Navigate Change.” theme particularly relevant.
Inclusive culture is arguably tested most when organisations face difficult decisions — not when circumstances are easy. National Inclusion Week can provide the opportunity to begin those conversations. The bigger test will be what employers are still doing during the other 51 weeks of the year.
Employers can find more information about the awards and National Inclusion Week here.
RELATED ARTICLES
As the UK marks National Inclusion Week 2026 from 14–20 September, organisations are being encouraged to build trust. But psychological safety isn’t created through a week long campaign, it’s built every day, writes Javed Thomas.
Neurodivergent workers continue to report poorer wellbeing, psychological safety and work-life balance despite growing employer efforts to improve inclusion, according to latest UK research.
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As organisations face growing pressure over DEI programmes, the latest Workplace Pride Global Benchmark shows that employers investing in long-term LGBTQ+ inclusion continue to lead the way.
Generation Z employees who identify as LGBTQ+ are unimpressed with current workplace inclusion efforts, according to a new study.
Seven in 10 UK employers have failed to train managers on disability discrimination or staff on neurodiversity, according to a new poll.
NHS staff report a rise in racist abuse as UK workplace discrimination persists, with new evidence revealing racial slurs, patients refusing treatment from Black and Asian healthcare workers and continuing inequalities across the wider labour market.
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