October Lunch and Learn Recap
Workplace ADHD | Leadership Development | Presented by Tailwind ADHD
For our Lunch and Learn on October 24, 2023, we had the pleasure of hosting ADHD therapist and coach Kitty (Kit) Kloud. Kit works with individuals both private and professional to navigate ADHD, to better understand it, and to learn to overcome some of the hurdles this diagnosis can bring with it.
According to Kit ADHD, short of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is still underdiagnosed in women in girls, as girls tend to have a better ability to mask it than boys who get diagnosed much more often. More and more adults are diagnosed with ADHD, finally giving some clarity and answers to questions one might have had for many years.
Attendees were invited to share experiences from how they finally received a diagnosis, and just how difficult it was to deal with something they didn’t know about, and that was completely misunderstood by the world around them.
A few key takeaways from this session with Kit:
Motivate Employees:
Employees with ADHD are not handicapped. They simply have a different way of performing their daily duties. Motivation through positive encouragement, honing in on an individuals special skills, and providing the necessary accommodations for your employees will go a long way in creating a motivated employee and a good and positive work culture.
Create a positive work culture:
All employees want to feel like they belong. To make sure that everyone feels included, open communication without judgement is vital. Rather than to feel threatened by what you don’t know about ADHD, be open to learning and understanding, so you can better work with the whole team. This positive culture will help you to retain your staff for years to come.
Retention:
Retention, as previously stated, is about the employer learning about their employee and providing a safe and comfortable space to grow as part of the company.
You’ll find it helpful to check out The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which “prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government”.
https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/ada/
That said, people with an ADHD diagnosis wish to be treated as a normal human being, just like any other human. With the correct assistance and reasonable accommodations, they can thrive on your company and make an outstanding and valuable employee who will remain with your company for many years.
This might be as simple as providing a set of noise-cancelling headphones (where appropriate), create a work schedule that helps this person perform at their best, or even help them by finding a job that may be more suitable for their work style.
If you would like more information or would like to work with Kit, please visit their website https://tailwindadhd.com or email them at info@tailwindadhd.com If you haven’t yet, please follow us on our social media accounts so you can stay in the loop about upcoming events like our lunch and learns or bookmark our events calendar here: https://business.tigardchamber.org/events/calendar/