- HR & People teams
- Managers & team leaders
- EDI & workplace inclusion professionals
- Anyone responsible for supporting neurodivergent people at work
Inclusive Workplaces
What Makes a Workplace Adjustment Reasonable? Finding the Balance for ADHD & Autism
Navigating the conversation between what employees need, what managers can support and what organisations can provide.
When an employee is struggling at work, managers can find themselves caught in the middle. An employee may know that something isn’t working but not know what support to ask for, while senior leaders may need to understand why a particular adjustment is needed and what it means for the wider workplace.
For managers, finding the right balance can be difficult. How do you understand what someone needs without making assumptions? How do you find a practical solution that works for the individual while making business sense for the organisation? And how do you have those conversations when you don’t have all the answers?
Inclusive Workplaces
When does an adjustment become “reasonable”?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. An adjustment that works well for one person may not be right for another, even when they share the same diagnosis. Understanding the individual and what they’re experiencing is an important part of finding the right approach.
Our special guest speaker, Hannah Cohen, The Insight Coach, will explore what it can be like when an employee knows they’re struggling but doesn’t know what support they need or how to ask for it. We’ll look at how managers can approach these conversations with curiosity and confidence, without needing to be an expert in ADHD or Autism, or make assumptions about what someone needs.
From there, we’ll look at the challenge of finding a solution that works for everyone. How can managers and organisations balance individual needs with the realities of the workplace? And how can they have conversations about the value of an adjustment when the benefit isn’t always immediately obvious to others?
We’ll also explore why an adjustment shouldn’t necessarily be treated as a one-off decision. Keeping the conversation open can help employees, managers and organisations understand what is working, what isn’t, and what might need to change over time.
And the biggest takeaway? You don’t need to have all the answers to have a better adjustment conversation. You’ll leave with practical insight into understanding individual needs, navigating different perspectives and working towards solutions that support both the employee and the workplace.
Hannah Cohen
The Insight Coach
Hannah Cohen is an ICF-accredited Workplace Inclusion Coach who works with individuals, leaders and organisations to identify and remove hidden barriers at work. Through The Insight Coach, Hannah helps people who are struggling at work understand what they need to perform at their best, while supporting leaders and organisations to create more inclusive working environments where people can thrive. Her work focuses on the practical reality of inclusion, particularly around disability and neurodivergence. She helps leaders understand different needs, challenge assumptions and have more effective conversations with employees about what support might help them work at their best. Hannah brings both professional and lived experience to her work. A former solicitor with more than 20 years’ professional experience, she is also visually impaired and has first-hand experience of navigating the workplace with a disability. Her approach is practical and person-centred, recognising that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to inclusion. The aim is to understand the individual, identify what is creating the barrier and find practical solutions that work for both the employee and the organisation.
Inclusive Workplaces
4 key questions we’ll dive into:
What if an employee doesn't know what they need?
Helping someone work through what isn't working and what might help, without making assumptions.
How do you have better adjustment conversations?
Approaching conversations about ADHD and autism with curiosity and confidence, without needing to be an expert.
How do you balance individual needs with workplace realities?
Finding practical solutions that work for the employee while making sense for the wider organisation.
How do you keep the conversation open?
Understanding why adjustments shouldn't necessarily be treated as a one-off decision, and how needs and solutions can be revisited over time.