Do You See Me? How Businesses Can Build Workplaces Where Everyone Thrives

Posted on Tuesday, 23 June 2026 by Lydia Sinclair

This Learning Disability Week, the question isn’t whether to be inclusive. It is whether our workplaces are actually built for it.

Most hiring decisions are made on instinct long before anyone reaches an interview room.

A CV gets a few seconds. A name, a gap, a qualification, a turn of phrase, and a quiet judgement forms about whether this person will fit. For the most part that instinct serves firms reasonably well. But it also quietly closes the door on people who would do the job brilliantly, simply because they don’t arrive in the shape we expect.

For people with a learning disability, that door is closed far more often than it should be. This week is a good moment to ask why.

The reality behind the week

Learning Disability Week is run by Mencap, and the theme for 2026 is “Do you see me?”. It is about people with a learning disability being seen, heard and valued, in every part of life, work included.

The numbers make the point sharply. Around 1.5 million people in the UK have a learning disability, roughly one in fifty. According to Mencap, 86% of unemployed people with a learning disability say they want a paid job. Only around 27% of adults with a learning disability are actually in work.

That is one of the widest employment gaps anywhere in the labour market. And it has barely moved in years.

The instinct is to assume the gap reflects what people can do. It doesn’t. It reflects how workplaces are built, and the assumptions that get made before anyone has had the chance to show what they are capable of.

Why the gap exists

Very little of this is deliberate. Most employers are not shutting people out on purpose. The barriers are quieter than that.

Job adverts written in dense, jargon-heavy language that screen people out before they apply. Application processes that demand a particular kind of polish. Interviews built around quick thinking under pressure, which test confidence and presentation as much as actual ability. A general assumption that “we wouldn’t really have anything suitable here.”

None of these are decisions anyone consciously makes against a candidate. They are just the default way most recruitment works. And the default quietly favours people who already fit the mould.

Changing that doesn’t require a grand strategy. It requires looking honestly at where the friction sits.

What reasonable adjustments actually look like

This is the part that tends to put employers off, usually because they imagine it is complicated, costly or risky. In practice it is almost always the opposite.

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. But the word “reasonable” does a lot of heavy lifting, and most adjustments are small, practical and cheap.

In real terms, that can mean:

• Sharing interview questions in advance, so the test is the thinking, not the surprise

• Allowing extra time, or a different format, for tasks and assessments

• Giving instructions in writing as well as verbally, and breaking them into clear steps

• Offering a quieter workspace, or noise-reducing headphones

• Keeping routines consistent, so people know what to expect each day

• Pairing someone with a buddy for their first few weeks

Most of these cost nothing. Many of them, quietly, make work easier for everyone, not only the person they were introduced for. Clear written instructions help the whole team. A calmer environment helps concentration across the board.

Designing for thriving, not just access

There is a difference between letting someone in and helping them do well once they are there.

Plenty of inclusion efforts stop at the hire. Someone is brought in, ticks a box, and is then left to sink or swim in a system that wasn’t designed with them in mind. That isn’t inclusion. It is a missed opportunity dressed up as one.

Workplaces where people genuinely thrive tend to share a few things. They focus on what someone does well and build the role around those strengths where they can. They train managers to support rather than to lower the bar, which are very different things. They make adjustments feel normal and unremarkable, rather than a favour someone has to ask for and feel grateful for.

The firms that get this right rarely talk about it as a programme. It is just how they work.

The business case is real

It would be easy to file all of this under “the right thing to do” and leave it there. But there is a commercial case too, and it is a strong one.

Employers who take inclusion seriously consistently report better retention, lower turnover and stronger loyalty. People who feel genuinely valued tend to stay, and the cost of losing and replacing good people is something every practice understands.

There is a cultural dividend as well. Teams that learn to communicate clearly, to be patient, and to support one another tend to be better teams full stop. The habits that help one person thrive quietly lift everyone.

A note for accountancy practices

Practice has its own version of this conversation. The profession leans heavily on a narrow idea of what a “good candidate” looks like, often defined by exams, speed and a particular communication style.

That filter is useful, but it is also narrow. There is a great deal of valuable work in any practice, from data and admin to process and detail-driven tasks, where the right person with the right support can be exceptional. Widening the lens even slightly opens up a pool of talent most firms never properly consider, at a time when good people are hard to find.

In a tight market, that is not just kind. It is sensible.

Learning Disability Week

Mencap’s question this week is a simple one. Do you see me?

It is worth turning that question on our own workplaces. Who are we overlooking? Who would do well here if we just made it a little easier for them to get in and get on?

Final Thought

Inclusion is rarely about big gestures. It is about a series of small, deliberate choices. How a job advert is worded. Whether interview questions are shared ahead. Whether a manager is trained to support rather than to assume.

Most workplaces could become more inclusive this month, without a budget or a board meeting, simply by looking honestly at where the friction sits and removing a little of it.

The talent is already out there, wanting to work. The question is whether we have built places that let them.

If you’d like help thinking about how your firm welcomes and keeps good people, we’d love to talk. You can find out more here: https://protalent.eu/onboarding-toolkits/

Warm wishes,

Lydia x