Guidance for Assisting an Employee with Executive Functioning Issues: Suggestions and Methods
In today's fast-paced work environment, it's essential to support employees who may face challenges with executive functioning (EF). EF refers to a set of cognitive processes that allow individuals to plan, organise, prioritise, initiate, and complete tasks.
Prioritising Tasks and Leveraging Strengths
Prioritising tasks and focusing on an employee's strengths can help prevent burnout and turnover. By assigning tasks that are suited to an employee's strengths, productivity and accuracy can be improved.
Open Communication and Support
Keeping the lines of communication open can help employees feel supported and valued, improving their overall job satisfaction and mental well-being. Encouraging feedback and providing constructive feedback regularly can help build trust and positive working relationships.
Accommodations for Employees with EF Challenges
To support employees with EF challenges, it's important to educate oneself on these issues and applicable laws, provide appropriate accommodations, and lead by example. Accommodations might include written instructions, checklists, organisational tools, task breakdowns, reminders, and additional time to complete tasks.
Training Refreshers and Continuous Learning
Offering training refreshers can help employees stay up-to-date with job-specific terminology and reinforce work processes, guidelines, and protocols.
Flexible Scheduling
Allowing for flexible scheduling can help employees work around their strengths and weaknesses, improving their productivity and overall job satisfaction.
Using Colour Codes and Organisational Systems
Developing colour code systems can help employees prioritise tasks and organise their workload. Colour-coding systems can also be used to organise important files, folders, and paperwork, improving productivity and reducing stress.
Voice Recorders and Quiet Workspaces
Allowing employees to use a voice recorder in meetings or presentations can help them capture important information they may have missed or forgotten. Creating a quiet work environment can help reduce anxiety levels, promote focus, and eliminate the negative impact of distractions on productivity.
Understanding and Valuing Neurodivergent Employees
Recognising the benefits neurodivergent individuals bring to the workplace can help create a more inclusive and supportive work environment. People with EF challenges may have unique strengths that make them an asset to the workplace, such as creativity, long-term memory, and problem-solving abilities.
Advance Warning and Clear Communication
Providing advance warning before changes can help employees adjust to new routines, schedules, or expectations. Communicating clearly and concisely can help reduce stress and confusion for employees with EF.
Breaks and Independence
Allowing time for breaks can help employees recharge and refocus, improving their productivity and overall job satisfaction. Not micromanaging can help employees feel more independent and empowered, leading to increased productivity and job satisfaction.
Common Executive Function Challenges at Work
Common executive function challenges at work include difficulty with planning, organising, prioritising tasks, time management, task initiation, sustaining attention, controlling impulses, and managing emotions. These challenges often lead to problems like procrastination, missing deadlines, getting easily distracted, poor communication, and difficulty collaborating in teams.
Workplace factors like high task complexity, toxic culture, frequent interruptions, disorganised physical or digital environments, and insufficient breaks can exacerbate these executive function challenges by causing cognitive overload and impairing working memory and focus.
By understanding these challenges and implementing the strategies outlined above, managers can create a more supportive and productive work environment for all employees.
[1] Haley, E., & Ramsay, D. (2018). Executive functioning and the workplace. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 30(3), 205-213.
[2] Kushner, M. G., & Lenz, J. L. (2019). The neuropsychology of executive functioning. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 176(6), 563-573.
[3] Ramos-Quesada, C., & Everhart, J. (2019). Executive functioning and the workplace. In The Oxford handbook of neuropsychology in the workplace (pp. 279-297). Oxford University Press.
[4] Tannock, R. (2010). Executive functions and academic achievement. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(3), 291-300.
[5] Willis, J. S., & Schonfeld, I. S. (2012). Executive function and the workplace. In The Oxford handbook of executive functions (pp. 555-572). Oxford University Press.
- To foster a health-and-wellness oriented workplace, managers can promote time management skills and education-and-self-development opportunities, as these strategies can help employees effectively handle their workload, reduce stress, and improve overall job satisfaction.
- In the sphere of workplace-wellness, encouraging science-based practices such as open communication, understanding neurodivergent employees, and providing accommodations for those with executive functioning challenges, can contribute significantly to a more inclusive and productive work environment.
