In 2026, belonging is no longer a cultural aspiration. It is operational infrastructure that shapes performance, retention, and resilience. As volatility increases and economic gaps persist, underrepresented groups are often the first to feel the impact, even though their perspectives are essential for navigating complexity and change.
The evidence is clear: effective inclusion strategies support attraction and retention, strengthen productivity and decision-making, and correlate with improved financial performance. But when trust and psychological safety decline, diverse talent goes untapped, decisions slow, collaboration weakens, and innovation stalls. Yet, many organisations still struggle to pinpoint where this breakdown happens or which conditions enable discretionary effort.
This Inclusion Lab moves belonging from sentiment to actionable intelligence. We will explore how to measure trust using signals leaders already rely on, including retention patterns, collaboration health, and delivery pace, then use that data to target the specific behaviours, systems, and moments that erode trust at the source.
