This article is an expert opinion piece about adults with ADHD at work. The author is a well-known ADHD researcher, and he wrote it after a request from a Forbes columnist. He says plainly that these are his own opinions. The piece reports no new participants and runs no tests of its own. He notes that workplace problems for adults with ADHD are documented, but that few publications say what employers themselves can do about them.
The recommendations focus on what employers can change. They include giving task, deadline and rule information in writing, with frequent reminders. He suggests making the passing of time visible with timers and calendars, and breaking long projects into smaller daily steps. He also recommends more frequent and more immediate accountability and rewards, work areas with fewer distractions, and matching work to a person's interests. Where it fits, he encourages medication and treatment such as CBT or coaching.
To set the context, he restates figures from earlier work. One cited study reported that adults with ADHD had trouble getting along with others on 32% of jobs, behavior problems on 45% of jobs, being fired from 17% of jobs, and quitting out of boredom on 33% of jobs. He also cautions that group averages hide a wide range, so some adults with ADHD do reasonably well at work.
Source: Barkley R. Recommendations for Employers Concerning the Management of Employees with ADHD. The ADHD Report (2013). doi:10.1521/adhd.2013.21.2.6