National Inclusion Week 2026: Building Workplaces Where Everyone Can Thrive

Hello Future Force Community!!!

National Inclusion Week is a great opportunity to stop and think about what inclusion really means in the workplace. This year’s theme is “Build Trust. Navigate Change.” And for us at Future Force, it feels particularly relevant.

We spend a lot of our time helping businesses recruit apprentices, develop early-career talent and prepare people for the realities of the workplace. One thing we’ve learnt along the way is that getting someone through the door is only the beginning. For people to really succeed, they need to feel that they belong.

We belie

ve Inclusion starts before someone gets the job, when we talk about inclusion, it's easy to think about what happens once someone joins a business. But inclusion starts much earlier. It starts with how we write a job advert, where we advertise a role and who we encourage to apply.

It starts with the recruitment process and whether candidates feel comfortable being themselves, and it continues through interviews, onboarding, training and those first few months in the workplace.

For someone starting their career, these experiences can have a huge impact.

An apprentice might already be wondering:

Do I belong here?

Am I good enough?

Will people listen to me?

What happens if I get something wrong?

Can I be myself at work?

These are perfectly normal questions when you're entering the workplace for the first time. Creating an inclusive environment can help turn those questions into something thoughts which are much more positive, like "I belong here. I can learn here. I can grow here.”

Apprenticeships can open doors, this is one of the reasons we are so passionate about apprenticeships at Future Force. Apprenticeships can provide opportunities for people who may not have followed the traditional route into employment, they allow individuals to learn, earn and develop practical experience while building a career. But opening the door isn't enough, We need to make sure people have the support they need once they walk through it and that's where employers have a really important role to play.

An apprentice shouldn't be expected to arrive on day one knowing how to navigate every workplace situation. They are learning; their job, how to communicate professionally, how to manage their workload, how to ask questions, receive feedback, build relationships and understand workplace expectations. And sometimes, they're learning all of this while trying to find their place within a new team. That's a lot to take on.

At Future Force, we believe that recruitment, training and inclusion are all connected.

You can recruit a fantastic apprentice, but if they don't feel supported, valued or able to contribute, you risk losing that talent. This is why the support around an apprentice matters so much. Through our work with businesses, we provide wrap-around support including coaching, mentoring, training provider liaison and regular reviews. We also run Basecamp: Foundations of the Workplace, which was designed specifically to help people develop the skills and confidence they need to navigate working life. Things like communication, confidence, resilience, emotional intelligence and understanding workplace expectations aren't always taught in education. But they matter enormously once someone enters the world of work and importantly, these skills aren't just useful for apprentices.They're useful for everyone.

This year's National Inclusion Week theme talks about building trust. We think that's a really important part of creating inclusive workplaces. Trust doesn't come from a policy document sitting on an intranet. It comes from everyday interactions. It'sa manager taking the time to listen, an apprentice feeling comfortable asking a question, It's someone being able to say, “I don't understand,” without worrying about being judged, It's giving people opportunities to contribute and making sure quieter voices are heard.

It's recognising that everyone has different experiences, backgrounds and ways of working.

Ultimately it's creating an environment where people don't feel they have to change who they are in order to succeed.

We all know the workplace is constantly changing. Technology is changing the way we work, Businesses are adapting to new challenges. Generations are working alongside each otherand career paths are becoming less linear. For businesses, this means being able to attract and retain a diverse range of talent is more important than ever. But inclusion shouldn't be something we think about only when we're recruiting. It needs to be part of how we develop people, lead teams and build our future workforce. For us, that's what makes apprenticeships so exciting, you're not simply filling a vacancy, you're helping someone take their first steps into a career. You're giving them an opportunity to learn and develop and you're helping shape the kind of workplace they will experience throughout their career.

So the question i hear you ask is: What can businesses do?

You don't need to completely transform your organisation overnight. Sometimes, inclusion starts with small things. Ask your apprentices how they're finding their first few months. Make sure they know who they can go to when they need help.

Create space for people to ask questions. Think about whether your recruitment process is genuinely accessible. Don't assume everyone knows the unwritten rules of the workplace.

And most importantly, listen. You don't have to have all the answers. You just need to be willing to have the conversation and keep learning.

At Future Force, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to build a successful career. That means creating opportunities, It means removing barriers and providing the right support. Building workplaces where people feel confident enough to learn, contribute and grow. National Inclusion Week is a great reminder of that, but inclusion shouldn't stop when the week ends. It should be part of how we recruit, develop and support people every day. Because when people feel that they belong, they're more likely to bring their ideas, their skills and their whole selves to work helping both individuals and businesses thrive.

At Future Force, we're proud to play our part in building more inclusive workplaces and building tomorrow's workforce, today!

If you're thinking about how you can make your apprenticeship programme more inclusive, or how you can better prepare and support your early-career talent, we'd love to have a conversation.

Let's build better workplaces together.