National Inclusion Week runs every September. It was launched in 2013 by Inclusive Employers, and it has become a fixed point in the calendar for HR and inclusion teams across the UK. If you want it to be more than a few posters and a lunchtime talk, the preparation has to start weeks before.
This guide focuses on an area many organisations leave out of their plans: neurodiversity. The term describes the natural variation in how people think, learn and process information, and it includes autistic people and people with ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and Tourette’s, among others. Our guide to neurodiversity in the workplace covers the basics.
Six to eight weeks out: decide what you want to change
Pick one or two outcomes
Work out what you want to be different by the following September. It might be a clearer process for requesting adjustments, managers who feel confident having a first conversation about neurodiversity, or a recruitment process that stops screening people out for the wrong reasons. One concrete goal beats ten vague ones.
Check your policies against reality
Look at how people actually ask for adjustments, how long it takes and who decides. Review job adverts, interview formats and performance processes. Our page on reasonable adjustments and your legal responsibilities sets out what employers have to do under the Equality Act 2010.
Involve neurodivergent staff early
If you have a neurodiversity network or employee resource group, ask them what the week should focus on, and listen to the answer. Do not expect them to organise everything unpaid on top of their day jobs. If there is no network yet, the week is a good moment to start one.
Two to four weeks out: plan the activity
Book training that fits the audience
A short introductory session works well for all staff. Managers usually need something more practical: how to respond when someone discloses, how to agree adjustments, how to adapt feedback and one-to-ones. Choose the format by who you need to reach, not by what fills an hour.
Make your events accessible
Share agendas and slides in advance, switch on captions for video calls, and do not rely on a single format such as a crowded in-person panel. Make it fine to join with the camera off or to watch a recording later. Our advice on running neuroinclusive meetings applies to events too.
Look at the physical space
If events are in the office, think about noise, lighting and crowding. A quiet room people can step into, and a clear running order shared beforehand, cost almost nothing.
During the week: listen as well as talk
Use the week to hear from employees, not only to broadcast to them. Anonymous surveys, small listening sessions and open Q&As with senior leaders all work, as long as people believe something will happen with what they say. Senior leaders sharing their own experience, where they are comfortable doing so, often does more than any slide deck.
Afterwards: follow through
Report back on what you heard and what you will do about it, with names and dates attached. Then track progress through the year; our article on measuring neuroinclusive culture suggests which metrics are worth watching. The real test of National Inclusion Week is whether anything has changed by the next one.
How Enna can help
Several of our workshops slot neatly into the week. Neurodiversity 101 is a 90-minute session that suits an all-staff audience, and Neurodiversity Awareness for Managers covers the practical side for people leaders. If you want to know where to focus beyond the week itself, our neuroinclusion maturity assessment gives you a quick picture of where you stand. Book a call to plan your week with us.
