ADHD is common among adults at work, and it is still widely misunderstood. Most managers have heard of it. Far fewer could tell you what it looks like on a Tuesday afternoon when a report is due, the office is loud and three people have sent the same question on Teams.
That gap is why we put together a free guide with detailed examples of reasonable adjustments for employees with ADHD. It is organised by trait rather than by job title, so HR teams, line managers and employees can all use it as the starting point for a practical conversation.
Why ADHD adjustments need to be specific
ADHD still gets reduced to stereotypes about being forgetful or easily distracted. In practice it can affect working memory, time perception, emotional regulation and how someone processes sensory input. How those traits show up depends on the person and, just as much, on the environment they work in.
In a typical office, an employee with ADHD might:
- find it hard to start a task with no clear first step, or to finish one once the novelty has gone
- be worn down by noise, bright lighting or a constant stream of notifications
- feel feedback or perceived criticism very sharply
- have highly productive days followed by much flatter ones
None of this is a performance problem in itself. It becomes one when work is built around a single way of operating and nobody adjusts it. The result is burnout, lost confidence and good people leaving, while employers miss out on the creative thinking, problem solving and energy many people with ADHD bring. Our guide to ADHD in the workplace covers those strengths and barriers in more depth.
Most useful adjustments cost little or nothing. What matters is that they match the actual barrier rather than coming from a generic list.
What the guide covers
For each trait, the guide explains what it is, how it can show up at work, and gives five example adjustments an employee can ask for or an employer can offer. The traits covered are:
- working memory
- time blindness and planning
- emotional regulation
- rejection sensitivity, often described as rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD)
- sensory sensitivity
- executive function
- overwhelm and information overload
- restlessness and the need to move
- uneven productivity linked to hyperfocus or burnout
If time is the big one for you or your team, our article on how ADHD affects time perception goes further. Managers who dread feedback conversations will find our rejection sensitivity toolkit for people managers useful.
Who the guide is for
We wrote it for line managers and HR teams who want to support colleagues with ADHD properly, for people and inclusion professionals reviewing policy, for employees with ADHD who want something concrete to bring to a conversation, and for workplace assessors and coaches. It is written in plain language and works in any sector and any size of organisation.
How to use it
Treat the guide as the start of a two-way conversation, not a checklist to apply to everyone with the same diagnosis. Two people with ADHD can need completely different things.
If you have ADHD
Pick the two or three traits that cause you the most friction at work, read the example adjustments and note which would make a real difference. Taking that short list into a one-to-one makes the conversation much easier for both sides. You can ask for support whether or not you have a formal diagnosis. If equipment or support costs are a sticking point, the government’s Access to Work scheme may be able to help.
If you manage or support people with ADHD
Use the guide to prepare for support conversations, to shape onboarding and job descriptions, and to check whether your policies remove barriers before anyone has to ask. Our article on deciding whether an adjustment request is reasonable and our page on your legal responsibilities around reasonable adjustments cover the employer side. The Acas guidance on adjustments for neurodiversity is also worth a read.
Download the guide
The guide is free to download, share and use inside your organisation.
Download the ADHD Reasonable Adjustments Examples guide (PDF)
How Enna can help
A guide gets the conversation going. When a situation is more complex, or you want consistent practice across teams, outside support makes the difference. Our workplace needs assessments give an employee and their manager tailored recommendations, and our one-to-one workplace coaching helps people turn strategies into habits. For managers, the Reasonable Adjustments: Putting It Into Practice workshop covers how to agree, record and review adjustments well. If you would like to talk through what your organisation needs, book a call with our team.
