TL;DR—be clear, be kind, listen, and trust that people are doing their best.

In a very ADHD way, I have overthought this article to a considerable degree, as well as leaving it until the last minute. 

You could have been reading “7 Things to NOT SAY to Your ADHD Colleague” followed by “7 Things to NOT DO to your ADHD Colleague” plus some context and some background and a fair bit of digression—and by that point, it would be like reading the book I’ve been procrastinating about writing for the last umpteen years…

None of it felt quite right though. Since 

with severe combined ADHD last year, at the age of 53, I’ve been a determined advocate and communicator about the challenges and the strengths of ADHD and other neuro differences in the workplace. 

I hope sharing some of the common challenges, and my thought processes around them, has been helpful in raising awareness of the condition.

I don’t mind being visible and vocal about it, but many people are not in the same privileged position as I am and talking to their managers about the fact that form filling is an impossible task, or confessing that they can’t log on after forgetting their password for the 4th time that day is not going to happen. 

Even more people are still where I was a year ago, telling myself I must be rubbish and lazy not to be able to organize my diary at the age of 53, when everyone else clearly finds it easy. 

Singling people out to provide "help" or special treatment can be counterproductive, and in many cases has the effect of making it seem that the "help" is to somehow fix us, make allowances, and bring us up to "normal" standards.

So, when I think about what leading and communicating in an inclusive working environment really needs, it isn’t the specifics about brain differences that I want to highlight.

It isn’t the continuing gender pay gap either, or the institutionalized racism identified in so many places. It isn’t the ongoing battle for physical accessibility, or the devastating toll of the pandemic on our mental health. 

It’s not about celebrating Pride, or International Women’s Day, or ADHD Awareness or Black History Month, or changing your Christmas comms to say "Happy Holidays". If you don’t already know that these things are worth thinking about then you probably aren’t reading this anyway.

What I want to say goes right back to my employee engagement days, and the basic principles of treating people like human beings, in the workplace or out of it. Thinking more about how we are the same, rather than different. 

So, how can you build that sense of belonging for all of us? Without making those of us who are "different" feel patronized, singled out, and wrong somehow?

Make your workplace communications, processes, and interactions clear and simple.

Listen to all of us, acknowledge and value our voices, our stories, and our lived experience.

Lead and manage us well, with empathy and understanding. Treat us as individuals.

Trust us to do a good job, in our own way.

ADHD in the Workplace: Listen to Us, Trust Us, & Treat Us Like Human Beings

Reducing employee attrition is one of the main priorities of organizations today—and as a result, many companies are increasing their focus on workplace experience.

 quit their jobs in each month of 2021 in the USA alone.

And experts say that improving workplace experience can play a major role in reducing attrition. So we released our latest guide—

Tackling Attrition: Time to Ramp Up Employee & Workplace Experience

—to help companies understand how focusing on workplace experience can reduce employee churn. 

There’s no one cause for high employee attrition. So, it’s essential to consider every factor when trying to understand why people are leaving your organization. Here are some of the common reasons for high employee attrition rate:

Poor working relationships between workers and supervisors

Poor working relationships between coworkers

How Improving Employee & Workplace Experience Can Boost Retention

Focusing on why employees may quit their jobs is key to boosting retention. Start by surveying your employees to identify their priorities. 

The key is to create a positive work culture and healthy work-life balance, and ensure that your employees don’t feel like their feedback isn't being acted upon.

While engaged employees are valuable to the business, disengaged employees can be extremely costly. According to a 

, the accumulated cost of disengaged employees can reach $60.3 million annually for a company of 10,000 employees. 

Modern companies are taking note of these costs by investing in programs to enhance the overall employee and workplace experience.

Here are some of the ways you can improve workplace experiences to improve retention:

1. Optimize Each Stage of the Employee Life Cycle (ELC)

The employee life cycle is a valuable framework for analyzing various stages of work. This journey will shape the entire company experience.

Onboarding and conducting exit interviews

It’s essential to create employee programs that are measurable, targeted to specific people, and have clear objectives. For example, if you have deskless shift workers, they’ll require extra or different training than a remote customer service representative. 

Taking these differences into account can enable you to invest in the right programs and tools catered to specific employee tasks to improve the experience.

Employees who know they have room for career development will likely stay in a company longer. You will require a practical training and development program to focus on developing the next generation of leaders in-house. 

With such programs, your employees will remain motivated and loyal when they know their company is investing in them for the future.
Equally important, training your employees and then losing them due to attrition will impact your bottom line significantly. 

Businesses can retain their top talent by offering the necessary incentives to boost motivation. Part of your training and development should allow the employees to recalibrate their goals—and allow you to monitor employee performance.

2. Boost your Internal Communication Strategies

Workplace communication is a crucial tool for nurturing positive employee and workplace experience. Clear communication in the workplace is valuable to help workers and management exchange information quickly, ultimately building trust, forming connections, driving collaboration, and increasing engagement.

Your comms team should do more than just disseminate information. They should help motivate employees by creating a sense of community around shared goals.

Having a greater sense of purpose enables employees to achieve higher productivity and become more engaged and loyal. And these employees are likely to become your top ambassadors.

Flexibility in the workplace is crucial for various reasons. 

Although 83% believe their workplaces are flexible, only 60% of employees agree

83% of employers believe they adjusted their workplaces during the pandemic to allow flexibility, but only 69% of workers agree

Flexibility is undeniably a critical part of employee well-being. Workers that are stressed out and don’t have a proper work-life balance are less motivated and more likely to leave. 

Plus, with the health risks associated with the pandemic, employers need to ensure that their workplace policies and office setup are designed to protect employee wellness.

4. Foster Workplace Growth and Development

Modern employees don’t just want money. They want opportunities to develop and grow. Organizations that invest in employee development show their employees that they matter and their potential is recognized. And if you don't offer these benefits, employees are more likely to leave.

Encouraging and supporting your employees is one of the best ways to retain top talent. According to a LinkedIn study, 

 say they prioritize working in companies that play active roles in their training and development.

You may also consider a mentorship program to offer employees targeted feedback on their career trajectories. Developing the program internally enables you to connect with all workplace employees.

Collecting feedback from employees is your greatest asset to understanding employee experiences. A key part of collecting feedback and acting on it is to reassure workers that their opinions matter.

While most organizations collect feedback, very few make an effort to actually act on it, which leads to less trusting employees. Showing employees that you care about how they feel and what they think will motivate them and increase trust. 

Listening to employees should be more than just gathering input. It means taking time to analyze every point and respond to every employee.

Most importantly, companies must embrace modern technology to create the workplace experience that employees today expect. Most workers carry out tedious or repetitive tasks on a daily basis that could be automated with new tech to give employees more time to work on the things they care about.

By investing in technology for employees, your organization will realize various benefits including:

Your employees are your customers. So creating a positive workplace experience for employees means creating more satisfied customers. 

A good workplace experience not only enhances employee satisfaction, but it also reduces attrition, saving you time and money when it comes to hiring new employees.

The Top 6 Ways Improving Workplace Experience Can Reduce Attrition

Human Resources colleagues: Are you hanging on to old-school employee communications approaches? 

For the last 15 years, I’ve worked with Human Resources (HR) teams on their employee communications initiatives. And times have changed—thank goodness!—with how we approach internal communications initiatives.

Below are five old-school approaches—the Don’ts—and what I suggest instead to be more effective with your efforts…

Why and How HR Leaders Should Lead Through Change

As you roll out a new leadership development program, implement annual benefits enrollment, remind managers to complete their performance reviews, it’s easy to focus on the information the audience needs to know and what they need to do with it.

— You, dear employee, need to enroll in benefits by November 12.

— You, dear manager, need to complete all the performance reviews for your team by April 30.

The messaging on these topics states yet another obligatory action the employee needs to take. Fine, but we can do better. 

 What are the desired outcomes of this communication? How do we want the audience to feel about this program? How can we address their current perceptions? How can we create an authentic connection on the topic? What’s the story behind this initiative?

For example, the message isn’t just about benefits enrollment. It’s about:

Caring for the health and wellness of your employees

Wanting them to feel valued as a part of your organization’s community

Supporting their peace of mind with good health insurance

Connect the message to their story and needs.

2. Don’t Think of Your Employees as One Big Grou

If I ask you: “Who is the audience for this communication?”

But don’t think of your employees as one homogenous group, because they’re not.

Understand and approach employees with all the appropriate nuances

mini department cultures, varying understandings of the issue, diverse backgrounds—and be sure to develop your communications strategies, tactics, and messaging accordingly.

3. Don’t Focus on One-Way Communications

HR communications professionals hear on the regular: Strategic communications is not just top-down, one-way. It’s employee-to-manager and peer-to-peer communications too.

And I still see a lot of organizations primarily relying on top-down, command-and-control communications.

Encourage dialogue throughout the process. 

Solicit more input from employees and managers before implementing the new program

Create a Slack channel to encourage visible dialogue

Organize a town hall where employees can ask senior leaders questions

Host a live webinar to engage employees and get feedback

I’ve shared late nights with my HR colleagues working on a change initiative, recognition program rollout, leadership toolkits...

Do you and your HR teammates ever feel “it’s all up to us” to influence culture, increase engagement, ensure there are learning opportunities for all and and and…?

ngage employees in every way possible in the culture and engagement initiatives of the organization.

Invite an employee-led group to test their ideas on how to solve a problem uncovered in the employee engagement survey

Organize a culture committee that’s excited to bring positive change to the organization

Ask your employee affinity groups to identify specific strategies to influence engagement

Identify stellar managers who can host a workshop and share stories, strategies, and lessons learned on how they succeeded with a department project… Or other topics such as: how they build trust. How they improve processes. What they learned from an industry conference.

Employ senior leaders and seasoned employees to play a larger role with new employee orientation

Brainstorm ways to involve your employees and managers in all culture and engagement efforts. They’ll be more engaged as a result! 

5. Don’t Implement One Long-Term Communication Plan

I remember the days when I’d write strategic communications plans with a six-month rollout and lots of strategies and tactics.

Organizations are changing too quickly for that approach.

Structure short-term milestones to get feedback not only on the project, but also on the communications.

Is the project/communications plan achieving its objectives? 

Are the desired employee actions being taken?

What are the current perceptions and questions?

How can we improve the project and the communications to ensure we’re more effective with the next milestone?

HR communications colleagues: Are there additional old-school approaches you recommend ditching?

HR Communications—5 Don’ts and What to Do Instead

A look at future trends, skills, and strategies we need—covered in a compelling new book.

Nostradamus likely had little interest in modern-day employee communications and engagement, but there are some of us who think a soothsayer on critical future trends for employee communicators could be pretty darned helpful, right? 

If you’re with me so far, you’ll understand that this need, in part, inspired the book I wrote with Missouri J-School’s Jon Stemmle on 

Engaging Employees Through Strategic Communication

. It features one chapter—arguably my favorite—chocked full of future trends we all should be thinking about.

The Great Employee Disconnect—And Why Enterprise Communications Are Failing

We believe three of the biggest forces that will demand time, energy, focus, and strategic assessment for employee communicators include technology, the rising voice of the employee, and the influence of distance (with more remote workers). 

Much has already been researched and written on the remote employee, and we have that covered in the book, but the other two—technology and the voice of the employee activist—are equal game changers.

But I’m not a techie, you say? Sorry, it’s no longer an option to stand on the sidelines. Time to embrace the Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Blockchain.

It’s no secret that technology is the ultimate modern-day disrupter in about any industry, but for employee communicators, the implications of new technologies—both communication-focused and not—arguably are even more significant.

Cloud computing has been the single biggest enabler for organizations to adopt new communication technologies. With on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, and no direct active management required by the user, the Cloud is a catalyst for opening the floodgates of change.

These technologies have direct implications for not only how employee communicators will reach their stakeholders, but how they will reshape the organizations themselves. 

Those that, for example, result in fewer total employees, more employees working more remotely, or lead to more contract—or “gig”—employees, will have profound implications on everything from the channels we choose to the content we select and the emphasis we place on issues like culture and values.

New communication technologies that focus on content distribution versus more traditional content creation on the part of employee communicators will drive new definitions for our roles. 

With the growing and continued evolution of employee-generated content, communicators’ roles inside organizations may well become closer to orchestrators rather than crafters of content. 

From self-made training videos to employee-generated documents on best practices, smartphones have equipped employees with new tools that place unprecedented power to communicate in their hands.

Running parallel to digital transformation efforts across enterprises, the common denominator is that data is increasingly being put in the hands of all employees simultaneously; and it’s being done in ways that are easier and more intuitive for them to use.

While this represents a big culture change for many organizations as they empower employees to make better decisions based on good data, it also demands increasing trust on the part of the enterprise, and deeper analytical skills on the part of employees.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is about technology learning as it operates, getting smarter along the way, and solving problems or needs in the process. 

Imagine feeding financial results from a quarterly earnings spreadsheet into an AI-enabled tool, and having it write its own CEO letter to employees or create its own new infographic. 

It’s already being used in HR to review resumes, evaluate video interviews, and even score potential inside candidates for a promotion—assessing who is most likely to succeed in a new position.

For the employee communications professional, the opportunities to make better decisions with AI are seemingly limitless. From which headline on an intranet story is more likely to attract readership to which photo is more likely to be liked or shared, AI will have a profound influence on content that includes where to use it, and when to publish it for optimal engagement. 

Pulling data from intranet sites, click-throughs on email newsletters, and other technologies, it will inform communicators through predictive analytics.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are rapidly emerging forces in AI. While early applications of this technology have been synonymous with gaming, the technology also lends itself to business environments, enabling collaboration and ideation. 

, for example, lets colleagues create virtual work rooms with 3-D images of themselves to share digital assets from the internet, their PCs, and smart phones, among other sources.

Blockchain is the other significant technology that will continue to influence employee communications. Essentially it’s an open, shared ledger that’s used to record transactions and track assets in a business network. 

Assets can be tangible (property like facilities or cars) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, and branding). Using blockchain technology, virtually anything can be tracked and traded on a network, reducing risks and cutting costs.

For the employee communicator, blockchain is another disruptor. As more blockchain technologies are deployed, more work will be outsourced, and transaction-based processes will become far more automated. As they do, the number of employees is expected to decrease.

 With all this expected change, the definition of what or who an “employee” is will most assuredly change. The implications of having fewer traditionally labeled employees, more gig and contract workers, and more smart contracts, mean everything from values to culture to ethics and compliance will need renewed focus, and more strategic communications solutions for workers of all identities.

Equally important, the implementation of any new technology should come with a thorough change management plan—a critical new competency that employee communicators will either acquire, or be left behind. 

Leaders increasingly look to internal communicators to own this discipline, and have the skills to do so.

The employee activist is no small player. Better get listening.

Strategic employee communicators have learned to listen to the voices of employees for decades. But there is a new force coming from employees that goes far beyond continuous feedback loops: employee activism.

A relatively newer phenomenon in the last few years, employee activism is reflected in actions taken by workers to speak out for, or against, their employers on controversial issues that impact society. 

Employee activists focus on campaigning to change company policies, with a focus on social activism—actions performed intentionally to generate social change.

Global consultancy Gartner predicted this year that a third of crisis communication budgets would be allocated to address the growing needs of organizations working with employee activists. It also noted that executives cited employee activism among their top 15 concerns in 2020. That really hasn’t changed since then.


For example, Emily Cunningham, a former Amazon employee, asked Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to come on stage at the company’s annual shareholders meeting. 

She and several of her colleagues stood and delivered their concerns about how Amazon was addressing global climate change, and additional concerns about working conditions in the company’s warehouses facilities during the global pandemic. 

As employee activism continues to grow, challenges to existing social media policies may be fair game for revision by management and protest by employees.

What’s an employee communicator to do? Glad you asked.

For technology, the answer is homework. Lean into new technologies, engage with IT teams, research what’s in development, where it’s working, and where it’s not. The more we know about new technologies, the more we can influence how they’re assessed, selected, and deployed.

We also need to become change management gurus. Really. Research certification options like 

 (I was certified a few years ago), and learn the discipline around how to communicate digital transformation, new operating models, culture change, and everything in between.

To address employee activists waiting to take action, we first need to carefully examine the stated values of our employers, and examine how our companies’ policies reflect those values. 

When decisions—particularly tough ones—are aligned with stated corporate values, the clarity of what an organization stands for is reinforced. While employees still may not like the decision, their bigger question then becomes whether they support the values the organization upholds.

Just as Communications functions have invested dollars and time in robust external social media monitoring, the onus on employee communications to have similar capabilities on internal social platforms—to listen—will be increasingly critical.

It’s also about engaging those employees quickly and meaningfully. They want to be acknowledged and heard, and they want their concerns addressed with action. When they’re ignored, the issue moves quickly to both larger internal importance and greater awareness with external stakeholders.

Employee communicators also can help their organizations develop skills to have difficult conversations between management and employees. Through training, and through content selection for internal communication channels, communicators can help managers and the broader employee population develop the skills, evolve the cultural mindset, and further develop internal channels that reinforce desired behaviors.

The future is filled with risk and new challenges for employee communicators, but with it comes the opportunity to influence and lead in ways we’ve never been able to before. It’s time to lean into that future. 

Want to learn more? Our book’s available on 

 Publishing. Or if you want a sneak peek, 

What Say Ye, Nostradamus, on the Future of Employee Communication?

The rate of change has never been greater than it is today, and with it comes new opportunities and new challenges. 

Organizations must rapidly adapt, change, and transform to compete. Those that do it successfully gain a significant advantage over their competitors.

only a third of change initiatives succeed

, and the primary reason for failure is poor communication.

When implementing organizational change, management has to deal with two challenges: technical challenges, and human challenges. 

Technical challenges are often easier to deal with because they involve visible aspects of the workplace, whereas human challenges are not simple and often require changes to the organization's culture. 

If organizations don't deal with the human challenge or don't deal with it well, the technical changes can't work—even if implemented excellently.

The key to overcoming these challenges is to have a compelling change story and communicate it clearly. 

If you want to deep dive into how to create a Change Story, plus learn other strategies for successfully driving change, check out our 

Ultimate Guide to Change Management Communication

The eight tips below should help you come up with a compelling change story for employee buy-in.

For a smooth change and faster decision-making during implementation, you need to include all the stakeholders to clarify everything and build trust between employees and management.

Most people fear the unknown, and organizational change can have many unknown outcomes. Humans react to change in various ways, but the fear of the unknown often leads to resistance to change. Leaders must understand the human dimension and address the root cause of these reactions to get employee buy-in.

3. Inform Employees Why Change is Needed Before They Ask

To fuel change and minimize resistance, all stakeholders need to understand why they need to change their ways of doing things. Clear communication is essential to ensure employees areall on board.

4. Explain the Compelling Business Reasons for the Required Change

To get all stakeholders on board, you must explain the organizational and business reasons for implementing change. These might include sustained loss of market share, new competitors, implementation of new tech to improve productivity, process inefficiency issues, and talent acquisition and retention challenges.

5. Be Specific About What Needs to Change—And Get Leaders Visibly Backing it

To align efforts and ensure the responsibilities are clear, what needs to change should be documented and articulated in detail. Once everyone is on the same page, leaders must take responsibility and lead the way instead of delegating. Doing so shows they believe in the change and could inspire their employees.

6. Involve Your People Throughout the Transformation

Involve your people every step of the way as you implement the change. Inclusion and their voices being heard empower them, making them work harder toward the change. They should be involved in open conversations about the change and be allowed to make some decisions.

7. Connect with Your People on a Personal Level

Ensure your people understand what the change means to them personally, and how they will benefit from it. However, you need proper communication tools and strategies to connect with them effectively.

8. Use the Communication Channels Your People Prefer

Communicating with your people through their preferred channels certainly enhances the employee experience—and that requires a robust omnichannel communications platform. 

allow you to personalize content and give employees a choice in how they receive comms. They can effortlessly move between different channels for a more integrated experience.

The Ultimate Guide to Change Management Communication

Understand Who Will be Impacted—For Better or Worse

With most organizational transformations, there are winners and losers. How you relay the information to employees is more important than what you relay, and determines whether employees will resist the change. 

With the right employee comms platform, you can share your messages on a variety of channels and invite feedback. 

You can monitor your people's reactions to changes and identify any issues or misunderstandings that need to be addressed.

No organizational change can be successful without good communication. Good communication is not just about the message reaching its destination—it’s also about personalizing the message, engaging your people on their terms, and using data to drive outcomes.

Superior communication ability amplifies the efforts of change leaders, empowers managers, and strengthens employee connections. 

How to Drive Change with Communications Tools

Digital tools are invaluable resources when introducing change. According to 

, digitizing the five areas below can enhance change efforts and increase the likelihood of success.

Just-in-time feedback allows employees to adjust their behavior and to witness the impact of the adjustments on performance.

Personalization involves making the information as uniquely relevant to the receiver as possible. It also involves showing them how their role contributes toward a greater goal. 

The right comms platform should provide powerful personalization and analytics capabilities that ensure people get the information that’s relevant to them.

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