ADHD at work: what managers need to know

What is it?

ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is a lifelong difference in how the brain regulates attention, activity and impulses. People with ADHD are not short of attention. They find it harder to direct attention on demand, particularly towards tasks that are routine, unclear or unrewarding, and easier to focus intensely on things that interest them.

NICE estimates that around 3 to 4 per cent of adults in the UK have ADHD. Many adults were never diagnosed as children, and many never will be. In any organisation of 100 people, it is reasonable to assume that several have ADHD, diagnosed or not.

What might it mean at work?

ADHD shows up in the ordinary mechanics of work: starting tasks, finishing tasks, keeping track of time, remembering what was said in a meeting, sitting through something slow. Someone may produce outstanding work under pressure and struggle badly with a routine report. They may be the most creative person in the room and the last to send the notes.

None of this is about ability or effort. It is about how work is set up.

Possible strengths

• Intense focus and productivity on work that engages them
• Creativity, lateral thinking and generating ideas quickly
• Energy and drive, particularly in a crisis or at a deadline
• Willingness to take on new things and tolerate uncertainty
• Directness and enthusiasm that lifts a team

Possible difficulties

• Starting tasks, particularly dull or ill-defined ones
• Sustaining attention through long meetings or documents
• Keeping track of time, deadlines and multiple threads
• Working memory: holding instructions in mind while acting on them
• Impulsivity: interrupting, speaking before thinking, acting before checking
• Regulating emotion under frustration or criticism

What can help?

Most of what helps people with ADHD helps everyone:

• Clear, written instructions with the outcome, the deadline and the priority stated.
• Shorter, more frequent check-ins rather than one long review.
• Breaking large tasks into visible steps with a first step that can be started today.
• Fewer, shorter meetings, with an agenda and written actions afterwards.
• A say in how and where they work, including quiet time for focused work.
• Feedback that is specific and prompt, so it can be acted on.

What should you never assume?

• That someone is lazy, careless or “not trying” because they struggle with routine tasks.
• That someone has ADHD because they are disorganised, or does not because they are successful.
• That an ADHD diagnosis, or the lack of one, tells you what an individual needs.
• That someone who has told you they have ADHD wants it discussed with anyone else.

What can managers do?

You do not need a diagnosis to act on any of this. If someone consistently misses deadlines, ask what would make deadlines easier to hit. If instructions keep getting lost, put them in writing. If meetings go badly, shorten them and send notes. Ask, rather than assume, and treat the answer as information about how this person works.

If an employee tells you they have ADHD, thank them, ask what helps, and keep it confidential. If they ask for adjustments, follow your organisation’s process and involve HR where you need to. ADHD can be a disability under the Equality Act 2010, which means there may be a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments. That duty is triggered by knowing, or being reasonably expected to know, about the disability, not by a formal diagnosis being on file.

Better understanding does not mean lower standards. It means being clearer about what is expected and better at helping people meet it.