ADHD in the Workplace: ADHD vs Attitude

Key takeaways

• ADHD and Executive dysfunction at work is often misread as attitude. Missed follow-ups, avoidance and inconsistency can reflect the gap between knowing and doing, not a lack of commitment.
• ADHD in the workplace is common and often hidden. A 2024 review of 79 studies points to around 4% of adults in the workplace having an ADHD diagnosis, and many more may be undiagnosed or struggling with executive function for other reasons.
• Standard tests can miss everyday difficulties. Barkley and Murphy found most adults with ADHD showed clinically significant executive function difficulties in daily life, but only a small minority did on formal tests.
• Micromanagement makes it worse. In a US survey of 500 employees with ADHD, 75% said they had experienced more micromanagement than their peers.
• Managers matter more than perks. 93% of employees with ADHD in that survey valued a supervisor who knows how to support them over any office perk.
• HR, People and Culture, and L&D teams can act now: give managers better questions, describe behaviour rather than character, and know where to get help with workplace adjustments.

The performance conversation that starts in the wrong place

There's a version of the same conversation I keep having with leaders, founders and executives.

They're capable and well regarded. They care deeply about their work, often more than the people around them realise. And yet a simple email has been sitting there for four days. A commitment slipped their mind. A decision they could make in their sleep for someone else has them completely stuck.

Then we start talking about the costs of these executive function challenges. Feedback about follow-through. A comment about ownership. A manager who has quietly started checking everything they do. Usually by the time they reach me, they've already decided the feedback is a verdict on who they are and how capable they are.

As an ADHD and executive function coach, I work with these people every day. So this post is for those of you in HR, People and Culture, and Learning and Development. Some of the performance conversations happening in your organisation are starting from the wrong assumption, and understanding ADHD in the workplace can change where they begin.

What is executive function, and why is ADHD at work so often misread?

Executive function is the set of skills that helps us turn what we intend to do into what we actually do. It's how we start tasks, prioritise, hold details in mind, judge time, switch between tasks and manage our emotions when something does not go the way we had planned. 

Executive dysfunction is what happens when those skills are hard to access. The problem usually isn't intelligence, values or commitment. It's the gap between knowing and doing. That's why ADHD is so easily misread in a capable adult: they can tell you exactly what needs to happen and still not be able to get started. You can read more on what executive functioning is and what it looks like for people with ADHD at work here. 

These difficulties can also stay hidden. In a study of adults with ADHD by Barkly and Murphy (2011), most showed clinically significant executive function difficulties in daily life, but only a small minority did on formal tests. Everyday life can reveal what a test doesn't. For managers, that means someone can interview brilliantly, perform well on assessments and still struggle with the daily mechanics of the job.

How common is ADHD in the workplace?

ADHD in adults is far more common than many organisations assume.  A global meta-analysis by Song and colleagues (2021), estimated that 2.58% of adults have persistent ADHD and 6.76% have symptomatic adult ADHD. That's around 366 million adults worldwide in 2020.

The picture inside workplaces is similar. A 2024 review of 79 studies, points to around 4% of adults in the workplace having an ADHD diagnosis. Earlier, the WHO World Mental Health Survey, found that on average 3.5% of workers interviewed reported having ADHD, rising to 4.5% in the US. 

Others may be undiagnosed, or dealing with executive dysfunction for other reasons. In my coaching work, burnout, sustained stress and hormonal change often come into the picture, leading to workers experiencing ADHD-like symptoms.

Why many employees with ADHD never disclose

As a leader, you may never be aware of any of this. In an ongoing Nordic study of more than 300 adults with ADHD, some managers, specialists and entrepreneurs feared disclosure could damage their credibility. Many people ask for clearer deadlines or written instructions without ever saying why. So an ADHD-informed workplace can't depend on diagnosis or disclosure. It has to work for everyone.

Five performance phrases, and what might sit underneath them

None of these is a diagnosis, and there can be plenty of other explanations. I'm offering them as a reason to pause before you settle on a story or assumption about someone in your team or in your workplace. 

1. "They don't follow through." The commitment may have been completely genuine. But if it relied on memory alone, with nothing in the system to bring it back at the right moment, it can disappear. Working memory is one of the executive skills most often affected by ADHD.

2. "They're avoiding it." They may well be, but avoidance is information. The task might have no clear first step. Or it might carry a fear of getting it wrong, built up over years of being told they should have done better.

3. "They clearly don't see this as a priority." Forgetting something and not caring about it can look identical from the outside. They feel very different on the inside. I've sat with people who were devastated by a mistake that others read as indifference.

4. "They over-explain everything." This gets read as a lack of clarity or confidence. Sometimes it's what happens when someone has been criticised often enough that they try to get ahead of every possible objection.

5. "They can do it when they want to." This is the one I most want to retire. The 2024 review referenced earlier, describes how adults with ADHD can become deeply immersed in stimulating work to meet a deadline. So someone may produce their best thinking on the urgent, interesting project, then stall on routine admin. That inconsistency doesn't prove the ability was there all along and they chose not to use it. It relates directly to the fact that ADHD brains are wired for interest and urgency. 

The hidden cost: micromanagement, shame and burnout

When ADHD and executive dysfunction are misread as poor attitude, the response is often more oversight. In a US survey with more than 500 adults, the most common misconception they reported was that people with ADHD just need to try harder. And 75% said they'd experienced more micromanagement than their peers. The study was commissioned by a company selling an ADHD treatment and relies on self-report, so I treat the numbers as a signal rather than a final word. But that pattern is very familiar to me in my coaching practice. 

More monitoring can add shame and pressure, and that rarely makes it easier to get started. So the person works longer to compensate, and now you have a burnout risk as well as a performance concern.

There's a business cost too. The WHO World Health Mental Survey found that workers with ADHD missed nine more days of work a year than those without it. Inattention on the job was estimated to equal 22 days' worth of work not done each year. To me, those figures make the case for getting support right, not for lowering expectations of people with ADHD.

ADHD in leadership: what this means for HR, People and Culture, and L&D

None of what I am discussing here is about lowering standards. The work still has to get done, and someone with ADHD deserves honest feedback as much as anyone else. That includes leaders with ADHD, who, as the Nordic survey suggests, may worry that asking for help will cost them credibility. What can change is how you find out what's getting in the way, and what you put in place to help.

1. Give managers better questions

Many managers are never trained in how to manage ADHD and how to communicate around it. These are a good place to start:

• Where does this usually go off track: starting, keeping going or finishing?
• What makes this one harder to get moving than the work that flows?
• When this kind of task has gone well, what was different?
• What would make the next step clearer?
• What's one thing we can try for two weeks, and how will we know it's helping?

They don't ask anyone to disclose anything, and they work whether or not ADHD is involved. 

2. Describe the behaviour, not the character

"Lacks ownership" tells someone what you've concluded about them. "Two client follow-ups were missed this month" gives you both something you can solve. It's a small change to review templates and manager training, and it makes for fairer performance conversations with everyone.

3. Prepare managers for the moment someone does tell them

The Nordic researchers put it well: lead with interest rather than judgement, then ask what would support the person's work. In the US survey, 93% of employees with ADHD valued a supervisor who knows how to support them over any office perk.

4. Know where to get help with workplace adjustments

In Australia, Job Access offers free, confidential advice on workplace adjustments, and it explains an employer's reasonable adjustment obligations once they're aware of a disability. Its Employment Assistance Fund may also help pay for adjustments, depending on eligibility. JobAccess notes that most adjustments are low cost, which surprises a lot of employers.

Start with one conversation

You don't need a new, expensive, fancy program to begin. Think of the next performance conversation that crosses your desk, and ask one question before anyone writes anything down: what do we actually know, and what have we assumed?

The people I work with aren't looking for a way out of being accountable. Most are already harder on themselves than any manager could be. What changes things is someone being curious enough to help them work out what's really going on, because that's when they can start doing something about it.

If you'd like to build this into how your leaders manage and give feedback, through executive function coaching, manager training or a keynote for your team, get in touch. It's a conversation I'm always happy to have.

Frequently asked questions about ADHD in the workplace

What is executive dysfunction at work?

Executive dysfunction at work is difficulty accessing the skills that turn intention into action: starting tasks, prioritising, remembering commitments, judging time and managing emotions under pressure. It can look like missed deadlines or poor follow-through, even when the person is capable and committed.

Is executive dysfunction the same as ADHD?

No. Executive function difficulties are common in ADHD, but they can also come from burnout, sustained stress, hormonal change and other causes. You don't need a diagnosis to benefit from executive function support.

How common is ADHD in adults at work?

A 2024 review of 79 studies points to around 4% of adults in the workplace having an ADHD diagnosis. A global meta-analysis estimated 6.76% of adults have symptomatic ADHD. Many people are undiagnosed or never disclose.

Can people with ADHD be effective leaders?

Yes. Many leaders, founders and executives with ADHD bring creativity, innovative problem solving skills, energy and deep focus on work that matters to them. With the right systems and support, executive function challenges can become a source of self-knowledge and stronger leadership.

Should a manager ask an employee if they have ADHD?

No. Managers should never diagnose or ask whether someone has ADHD. Instead, ask open questions about where work goes off track and what would help. Those questions work whether or not ADHD is involved.

What workplace adjustments help employees with ADHD?

Common adjustments include written instructions, clearer deadlines, regular check-ins, reminders built into systems and quieter spaces for focused work. In Australia, JobAccess offers free advice and notes that most adjustments are low cost. An ADHD coach who is accredited with the ICF is also a recommended treatment support, as outlined in the ADDPA Australian Evidence-Based Clinical Guideline. 

How can HR reduce burnout in neurodivergent employees?

Replace extra monitoring with curiosity and support. Train managers to describe behaviour rather than character, offer practical adjustments and create conditions where people feel safe to say what they need.

References

1. Barkley, R. A., & Murphy, K. R. (2011). The nature of executive function (EF) deficits in daily life activities in adults with ADHD and their relationship to performance on EF tests. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 33(2), 137–158. Link
2. Song, P., Zha, M., Yang, Q., Zhang, Y., Li, X., Rudan, I., et al. (2021). The prevalence of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A global systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Global Health, 11, 04009. Link
3. Hotte-Meunier, A., et al. (2024). Review of 79 studies on ADHD in the workplace, summarised by The Brain Charity. Summary · Original paper
4. de Graaf, R., Kessler, R. C., Fayyad, J., et al. (2008). The prevalence and effects of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the performance of workers: Results from the WHO World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Summary from the Fogarty International Center
5. Akili and Wakefield Research (2023). Don't Just Employ, EMPOWER: Improving the Workplace for Those with ADHD. Link
6. University of Vaasa NeuroPRISM (2026). Disclosing ADHD at work: preliminary survey findings. Link
7. JobAccess (Australian Government). Workplace adjustments. Link