Workplace attention deficit: how to keep your employees focused

Attention deficit disorder (ADHD) is a common mental-health condition that is usually diagnosed as early as childhood; however, many people only realise in adulthood that this is the kind of challenge they have to cope with day after day. Workplace attention deficit makes efficient work extremely difficult, and in blue-collar roles it can sometimes even lead to workplace accidents. That is precisely why it is important to learn how to manage it effectively and to create a work environment that helps keep employees focused.

How can you tell that an employee is struggling with ADHD?

If one of your employees is regularly late for work, cannot complete their tasks by the deadline, finds it hard to finish their work, or struggles to get along with colleagues, this may be a sign that the employee is struggling with ADHD. Because of workplace attention deficit, they find it difficult to fit into the work community and to perform as expected. It is therefore not uncommon for adults with ADHD to be dismissed, or at least passed over when it comes to promotions.

The causes of workplace attention deficit

ADHD is a mental condition, meaning that under ideal circumstances it does not surface and therefore causes no problems in everyday life. However, there are certain situations that intensify it and bring this state out in a person.

1. Boredom -  when a very monotonous, or for the employee extremely boring, task has to be completed, the colleague struggling with attention deficit starts to occupy themselves mentally with other things, e.g. what other people around them are talking about, what the weather is like, what they will buy at the shop, etc.
2. Distracting factors - there are both internal and external factors. In the former case the employee starts to entertain themselves with a thought; a good example of the latter is when they keep a close eye on the company's internal social network to follow which colleague is teasing whom and which is the funniest panda video someone has shared

Other signs pointing to workplace ADHD 

1. Extreme forgetfulness- forgets tasks, deadlines and responsibilities
2. Hyperactivity-  unable to sit or stand still and do their task for any length of time
3. Impulsivity- makes rash decisions in a matter of seconds, even on bigger questions
4. Cannot manage interpersonal relationships- speaks very bluntly, interrupts colleagues or does not even listen to what they have to say
5. Cannot manage their time- and therefore cannot finish their tasks on time
6. Whenever they get the chance, they put their tasks aside and procrastinate.

Tips for reducing workplace attention deficit

Below you can read tips for overcoming workplace attention deficit that are worth applying primarily with your blue-collar employees. For office workers, who can decide for themselves when to take a short break, it is worth using other techniques. This article does not cover those, however, given that our focus here is on blue-collar workers.

1. Take breaks more often

People working in factories and plants can only set their work aside when there is a break. But that is far from meaning that their attention cannot wander or that they are focusing entirely on their task. It really can happen that they pay attention to something other than what they should, and as a result a machine catches their fingertip, which can lead to panic and chaos in the plant.

More frequent short breaks have a better effect on the mind than rarer, longer ones.

If an employee knows that every 1-2 hours (just like at school) they will have a 10-minute break, when their mind can deal with whatever it wants, or they can take a walk or get some fresh air, go to the toilet, have a cigarette, etc., then it is much more likely that during work they will focus on their task instead of something else. This also improves their performance and can reduce the number of workplace accidents.

2. Reduce communication noise

It is important to stay in touch with employees, so a corporate internal communication tool is definitely needed. However, it is not all the same whether this is a platform resembling a social network, which contributes to intensifying workplace attention deficit, or, on the contrary, a tool that supports workplace focus.

CHEQ is a corporate internal communication app that, while it does enable two-way discourse between employer and employees, regulates who can send a message to whom. This in itself is an information filter that prevents the situation in which employees spend the day dealing with insignificant messages, while at the same time ensuring that important company messages reach everyone, thereby also promoting the efficient alignment of employees in order to increase productivity.

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