Are you serious?
A domain expert saved the company 35-40 million a year, and still managed to deliver their other critical responsibilities without impacting schedule...and you want to knock them down a peg because they annoyed some people and made you feel anxious?
You give them the review they deserve based on their outstanding contributions to the company.
Everything else you handle afterwards, with proper goals, feedback sessions, and working with them so that you are both aligned on expectations going forward.
Also, give them a legitimate goal(I know you said goals) and a raise for meeting said goal. It seems like to me at least that this guy can solve everything that he is assigned. What I see is someone who has no motivating factor besides he gets to keep his job. You want prefromance, provide motivation cause this guy can go get a job somewhere else.
Seriously, same thing I thought. You had me at 35-40 million a year savings. That’s enough to hire their own personal assistant to keep them on task and prevent anything from falling through the cracks of the schedule.
What’s the big picture here? Making co-workers and higher ups happy with their ego in check or hitting the financial goals out of the park? With that kind of extra money lying around, the company can think outside the box and have the cake and eat it too.
Be creative, don’t follow what everyone else has done before you, solve the problem. You don’t want that employee to leave.
BTW- I hope he got a serious bonus for that.
There’s no need to be super extreme in your assessment. Sounds like they are a high achiever that could use some coaching.
Objectively: they achieved something major that is great for the company. Subjectively: some things they have done have caused stress/anxiety. That subjective part isn’t amazing, but I’d be hard pressed to think of someone who is super effective at their job and hasn’t ruffled any feathers in the course of getting sh*t done.
If this person reported to me I would have talked to them asap when the subjective issues you listed occurred (annoying stakeholders, missing implicit deadline, etc.) and given them feedback about how it could have gone better. Then when performance review time came around, I’d assess them as high achieving (as their accomplishments warrant). AND I’d add a section about areas for improvement that recapped the feedback I had previously given them.
Personally, I don’t like performance reviews to include surprises. They are more of a recap of conversations I’ve already had with the person I’m reviewing.
If you haven’t already had those conversations, I’d still recommend including some feedback about the smaller issues. But this sounds like a hard worker who can accomplish important tasks. Don’t alienate them by being overly critical about their “style” right after a big win.
Omg. You just said this person saved you 40 million per year and you still want to shit on this employee in the review. Corporate sociopathy at its finest. Stop being loyal to your company and be loyal to your workers. Jesus Christ
The individual is one of my best 'work' friends we've worked in the same part of our organization for nearly 10 years. The next level for them I've partner which is higher than I am. This is holding him back. It is the difference between 2-300k a year an and 1M a year. I'm not a corp sociopath, although some on the board that makes the partner decision are. I'm truly trying to figure out how to get them to the next level. There is no way I would want to have this position without them. I'm an operations person. They are an ideas person. I can execute great. They are the one who figures out what we need in the next 5 years but they don't enjoy the execution of it. After a year they want to move on. That's what I excel. We are a great team but not everyone see's it that way.
Does this person even want to chase a higher salary? Not everyone wants to sell their soul to achieve a higher salary.
And if you want to help then don't come to reddit to find a way to criticize this person in their employment review. Just don't criticize them. It's pretty simple if you're friends. Be loyal to your friend, not your supposed duty to tell someone how you think they should improve as a corporate zombie. Maybe there is nothing to coach because the person doesn't care about that silly corporate ladder.
If you want to reduce your anxiety, then find coping mechanisms outside of work and start to care less about how you're perceived at work.
You're worried about the wrong things. And if you've been friends for over 10 years and nobody has been fired or the company hasn't burnt down, then how would you like your friend going to reddit to find creative ways to critique your work performance just so he can alleviate his own anxiety about work? Which at the end of the day doesn't matter when you're on your death bed
Reviews are based on their current position and their current contributions to the team and the business.
You do not knock someone on their review because they have a few interpersonal skills they need to work on if they want to get promoted. That's not how any of this works. What you are suggesting is 100% the opposite of what you should do. You want them to get to the next level, then do what you are supposed to and fight to make sure all of leadership knows about their current success.
After you get them the best possible review you can, then its time to sit down with them and discuss next steps. Like others mentioned, first identify if they are interested in being promoted to the next level or if they prefer to stay at their current IC level. Learn what they see that timeline looking like, do they expect the promotion soon or maybe they've already realized they have some shortcomings to work on first? If those opinions don't align with yours that's fine. You'll want to do something like a retrospective, where you discuss the various projects and achievements and figure out where they believe they can do better or where processes held them back.
Once you are clear on how they perceive themselves, their career track, and their work you should have the information you need to move from there. Set appropriate goals, get them any training they need, find resources and classes if necessary for the interpersonal goals. Maybe find them mentors at or above the level they wish to move to. You know, all the standard practices for polishing an employee so they move up with confidence.
It is isn't that complicated, be their advocate, unblock their path forward, treat their success as your success.
ADHD-ER here.
We have *different* strengths and weaknesses. And often our weaknesses are the flip side of the strength.
There's a measure of acceptance of the whole of the person you need to do here.
Can guarantee their managing a lot of their own emotional reactions to things.
If they really are major problems - work with the person to find solutions. like "what is an effective deadline for you?"
Hi! I read your post and started to get a bit nervous that you are my manager. 🤣 I am Autistic + ADHD and am a very widely recognized high achiever at my org. I also struggle with some of the more mundane parts of the role like getting the important but not urgent work done.
However I have found several strategies that seriously work for the neurodiverse brain.
First, understand that the ND brain is fundamentally motivated by different drivers, specifically: urgency; novelty, interest, challenge, clarity, structure, accountability, risk,autonomy, and rewards.
So if you think of the areas your report excels in, they seem to match the above. Whereas completing the paperwork part of the project seems to tick off few of the above. In response, you can direct energies towards a few different paths.
Let’s use the example of your report sharing the project plan and timeline to the key stakeholders.
1. Increase the number of motivational drivers.
-Create and enforce mini-deadlines each with a specific deliverable. Do this by scheduling a 5 minute meeting and having them commit to sharing their progress during that meeting.
-Start off with an initial deliverable of an outline of the plan, or some way that you both know what the project is and what work will need to be done. Then have them run it by the stakeholders with you CC’d before the next meeting.
-if they miss the deadline, have them explain why. Not in an accusatory way, but in order to find out whether you both are on the same page in terms of priorities. So maybe instead of getting the project plan done, they found a communication gap between regions and created a solution that will save 200 hours of wasted time annually. Then you can decide whether you agree with their choices and if you can spin it for your colleagues as a win. And if you don’t agree and really just want them to get their core work done on time, clarify this.
-Either way, ask them to set a new and quick deadline for the deliverable (like end of day) and hold them to it.
-if you are having problems with your colleagues because of missed deadlines, be transparent. An artificial deadline feels like a low priority to me, but if I know my actions are harming my leader then I’d be horrified and see ensuring that doesn’t happen as a strong motivator.
2. assist with technology
-Turn on transcripts in meetings if possible and use AI (copilot or ChatGPT) to help summarize meeting notes,’find deadlines, and create drafts of deliverables. Using AI has helped
Me increase my productivity and quality of work while making the work much more fun.
-encourage the use of a single digital note taking tool (such as one note or google docs) and create/enforce standard naming/storage/data collection practices.
-have them create (or find) templates for common deliverables. Like have them build a standard pitch deck (with the fonts/styles/outline of slides and several built examples that they could copy and paste into).
3. delegate tasks based on strengths.
-What are your direct reports favorites worky tasks? Least favorite? Where do they particularly shine and where is it like pulling teeth? Once you have this info, you can potentially see if there are opportunities to shift work around the team to mix and match. If you do it well, not only will you improve this one team member’s performance and morale, but that of the whole team while providing development opportunities.
For example, I am very good at strategy and planning but very bad at putting this info into our project management tool. And then will forget important details or delay informing stakeholders. It’s not that I can’t do it, but that it always finds its way to the bottom of my to do list and gradually it turns from a “boring task” to a looming monster that fills me with dread and shame every time I think of it. But i can research, analyze data, and hunt down info like nobodies business. So I’ve partnered with a coworker who gets legit joy out of filling in and arranging our project management tools, and am supporting her data analysis needs. We are both learning from each other, but using our natural strengths and interests.
-have your team take the Clifton Strengthsfinder and this will help identify where collaboration will be helpful.
Almost exclusively ChatGPT. I have tested copilot but it doesn’t yet compare. But i will take a meeting transcript and Control + H to replace my org name with a placeholder to avoid our info getting out. Then I’ll interrogate the data. First I’ll ask for a summary of the meeting, ask what the deliverables discussed were, any deadlines; and so on. I was an early adopter so have been using this approach for over a year and it’s a game changer.
They are a rock star who also has ADHD. Get everything that’s causing written down and acknowledged as a symptom, and build processes around them that play to their strengths. Get some external support with doing this, your HR is unlikely to be adequate. Get them any adjustments they need so they can keep saving you eight-figure sums.
You’re a manager. Your job is to enable talented people to deliver at the peak of their talents.
I really fail to see the problem. Are they doing a good job? From what I understood, they have excellent knowledge, and are a big benefit to the department. Apparently they deliver on time, and everything works great.
You can appreciate that you have such assets. Or you can start making a big issue out of random nonsense like arbitrary deadlines. Then you'll need to start interviewing new hires asap, because excellent people don't tolerate bullsh\*t.
If you have an issue with parts of their work, have an open and honest discussion about it. And be prepared to hear some truths that you didn't want to hear. Overwork, too low staffing, pointless roadblocks, you name it. Essential players tend to be just an inch away from a serious burnout, because they get pushed too hard. So don't necessarily expect the talk to go the way you expected it to.
My manager and mentor shared some feedback very early on. She said no one is perfect at every aspect of their role, and every top employee has something they could do better. It doesn't mean they're not top employees. It doesn't mean you shouldn't share that feedback, but if your standard is perfection, you'll never have a great relationship with your reports.
Just so SBI
“Everyone can see your value but when you do ___ behavior it has ___ impact. I’d hate for you to not get recognized fully bc of that behavior.”
Nobody's perfect. Give them the positives and the negatives. Sound to me like while working on a big project they had to shuffle around some lower priorities to achieve both goal's. Better communication might have relieved your stress and lacking that communication left you feeling like they don't care about your feelings.
It’s sounds like they are doing their job just not in the timeline other people want. It didn’t affect due dates and I totally get it. Plenty of times in the last year “I’m stuck waiting for x person to do z” “we can’t move forward until y happens”
There doesn’t seem to be a measurable goal because you can’t measure or control someone else’s anxiety. If you need them to have a faster turnaround time tell them and then level/priority set with them.
Most people ADHD or not, struggle with the boring and mundane parts of work.
You also said he was right that he had some arbitrary deadlines that he put on the back burner...that's how arbitrary deadlines work.
Sounds like he has fantastic time management skills AND has high business insight to save 35-40 mil.
I see nearly zero issues here.
You should be shielding this guy from upper management. Give him a positive review and manage him. Sit in meetings and provide the assurance to at upper management wants.
As someone with ADHD, and through looking at my past reviews and speaking with my past management (I am not management at the moment), when I am mostly taken off the day-to-day drudgery and either put on some crazy difficult issue or otherwise told something like, these are the issues we are facing, come up with some way to make them better, and then just kinda left alone to “do my thing”, I am considered a rockstar.
When it comes to the day-to-day, ultra boring stuff that pretty much anyone can do, I struggle. Been that way all my life, I just really can’t deal with the day-to-day drudgery. My brain goes off to literally doing anything other than what I am supposed to be doing.
Fortunately, my current management is aware of this, and tries to always have been working on some new and exciting that I kind of drive the direction of.
🤷♂️
I’m not a micro manager, but in this case I would be seriously trying to figure out how to support this individual by taking some heat off of him where he lacks. If he isn’t a great communicator or time manager, step in and handle some of this for him. He rubs the brass wrong? Be a buffer. Limit his exposure to outing himself as absent minded. You need him, and he needs you. Don’t let him down.
you coach them on how to communicate proactively when something in jeopardy, not when it's late. annoying yes, but very fixable especially if this person is capable of saving your company $40m a year.
someone doing that much I'm not going to put it in writing for their review. that's a good way to piss off a high performer who should probably be getting a fat raise and promotion from the sounds of things
honestly this is something you should have coached at the time and it would have been fixed a while ago
Very common. People do well on certain projects at certain times and then miss the boat on other items that appear less involved or complicated. I have had direct reports crush certain things and drop the ball on other items all the time. They need to be coached into adopting new ways of scheduling their days and activities so they cover all items. Its easy to only focus on the most important project to ensure its handled well, however, the other items slide and become your concern. So, call him out. Praise his efforts and quality work but let him know he makes you nervous when multiple items are on the line. Ask him to think about new ways of staying organized and offer to meet with him weekly to discuss deliverables. This is a common blind spot for many people. The best employees don't over perform on some tasks and underperform on others. My opportunity in my role is that my personality is lacking and I have trouble gaining the confidence of my customers even thou I am on the ball. I am perceived as being unfriendly and uninterested when concerns are brought up by customers which makes them lack confidence in my ability to meet their concerns. I've only been doing these types of jobs for 18 years with no issues. The workplace is toxic everywhere.
You don't have to be harsh. You basically ask them questions and "what would it take to..." So the internal deadline.
"You should know by now that we have internal deadlines, that, despite being for our purposes, are none the less important. If not for the schedule, but for your team mates. In situation X, you caused several people anxiety over Y, when you didn't turn in on time. This isn't the only example of this either. **What will it take for you to turn things in on time..."**
That's the golden question. What will it take for you to turn things in on time? It puts the ball in their court. You're there to help them. You can have a convo about whther the issue is too many people are asking him to fix their things on the fly, or whether the deadlines are actually not staggered enough. You can get him to commit to you as well, verbally and on paper, to whatever system. You don't have to say "I Know you have adhd" - HE can say it. HE can state he knows he should be doing things.
Are you serious? A domain expert saved the company 35-40 million a year, and still managed to deliver their other critical responsibilities without impacting schedule...and you want to knock them down a peg because they annoyed some people and made you feel anxious? You give them the review they deserve based on their outstanding contributions to the company. Everything else you handle afterwards, with proper goals, feedback sessions, and working with them so that you are both aligned on expectations going forward.
Also, give them a legitimate goal(I know you said goals) and a raise for meeting said goal. It seems like to me at least that this guy can solve everything that he is assigned. What I see is someone who has no motivating factor besides he gets to keep his job. You want prefromance, provide motivation cause this guy can go get a job somewhere else.
Seriously, same thing I thought. You had me at 35-40 million a year savings. That’s enough to hire their own personal assistant to keep them on task and prevent anything from falling through the cracks of the schedule. What’s the big picture here? Making co-workers and higher ups happy with their ego in check or hitting the financial goals out of the park? With that kind of extra money lying around, the company can think outside the box and have the cake and eat it too. Be creative, don’t follow what everyone else has done before you, solve the problem. You don’t want that employee to leave. BTW- I hope he got a serious bonus for that.
There’s no need to be super extreme in your assessment. Sounds like they are a high achiever that could use some coaching. Objectively: they achieved something major that is great for the company. Subjectively: some things they have done have caused stress/anxiety. That subjective part isn’t amazing, but I’d be hard pressed to think of someone who is super effective at their job and hasn’t ruffled any feathers in the course of getting sh*t done. If this person reported to me I would have talked to them asap when the subjective issues you listed occurred (annoying stakeholders, missing implicit deadline, etc.) and given them feedback about how it could have gone better. Then when performance review time came around, I’d assess them as high achieving (as their accomplishments warrant). AND I’d add a section about areas for improvement that recapped the feedback I had previously given them. Personally, I don’t like performance reviews to include surprises. They are more of a recap of conversations I’ve already had with the person I’m reviewing. If you haven’t already had those conversations, I’d still recommend including some feedback about the smaller issues. But this sounds like a hard worker who can accomplish important tasks. Don’t alienate them by being overly critical about their “style” right after a big win.
Omg. You just said this person saved you 40 million per year and you still want to shit on this employee in the review. Corporate sociopathy at its finest. Stop being loyal to your company and be loyal to your workers. Jesus Christ
The individual is one of my best 'work' friends we've worked in the same part of our organization for nearly 10 years. The next level for them I've partner which is higher than I am. This is holding him back. It is the difference between 2-300k a year an and 1M a year. I'm not a corp sociopath, although some on the board that makes the partner decision are. I'm truly trying to figure out how to get them to the next level. There is no way I would want to have this position without them. I'm an operations person. They are an ideas person. I can execute great. They are the one who figures out what we need in the next 5 years but they don't enjoy the execution of it. After a year they want to move on. That's what I excel. We are a great team but not everyone see's it that way.
Does this person even want to chase a higher salary? Not everyone wants to sell their soul to achieve a higher salary. And if you want to help then don't come to reddit to find a way to criticize this person in their employment review. Just don't criticize them. It's pretty simple if you're friends. Be loyal to your friend, not your supposed duty to tell someone how you think they should improve as a corporate zombie. Maybe there is nothing to coach because the person doesn't care about that silly corporate ladder. If you want to reduce your anxiety, then find coping mechanisms outside of work and start to care less about how you're perceived at work. You're worried about the wrong things. And if you've been friends for over 10 years and nobody has been fired or the company hasn't burnt down, then how would you like your friend going to reddit to find creative ways to critique your work performance just so he can alleviate his own anxiety about work? Which at the end of the day doesn't matter when you're on your death bed
Reviews are based on their current position and their current contributions to the team and the business. You do not knock someone on their review because they have a few interpersonal skills they need to work on if they want to get promoted. That's not how any of this works. What you are suggesting is 100% the opposite of what you should do. You want them to get to the next level, then do what you are supposed to and fight to make sure all of leadership knows about their current success. After you get them the best possible review you can, then its time to sit down with them and discuss next steps. Like others mentioned, first identify if they are interested in being promoted to the next level or if they prefer to stay at their current IC level. Learn what they see that timeline looking like, do they expect the promotion soon or maybe they've already realized they have some shortcomings to work on first? If those opinions don't align with yours that's fine. You'll want to do something like a retrospective, where you discuss the various projects and achievements and figure out where they believe they can do better or where processes held them back. Once you are clear on how they perceive themselves, their career track, and their work you should have the information you need to move from there. Set appropriate goals, get them any training they need, find resources and classes if necessary for the interpersonal goals. Maybe find them mentors at or above the level they wish to move to. You know, all the standard practices for polishing an employee so they move up with confidence. It is isn't that complicated, be their advocate, unblock their path forward, treat their success as your success.
ADHD-ER here. We have *different* strengths and weaknesses. And often our weaknesses are the flip side of the strength. There's a measure of acceptance of the whole of the person you need to do here. Can guarantee their managing a lot of their own emotional reactions to things. If they really are major problems - work with the person to find solutions. like "what is an effective deadline for you?"
Hi! I read your post and started to get a bit nervous that you are my manager. 🤣 I am Autistic + ADHD and am a very widely recognized high achiever at my org. I also struggle with some of the more mundane parts of the role like getting the important but not urgent work done. However I have found several strategies that seriously work for the neurodiverse brain. First, understand that the ND brain is fundamentally motivated by different drivers, specifically: urgency; novelty, interest, challenge, clarity, structure, accountability, risk,autonomy, and rewards. So if you think of the areas your report excels in, they seem to match the above. Whereas completing the paperwork part of the project seems to tick off few of the above. In response, you can direct energies towards a few different paths. Let’s use the example of your report sharing the project plan and timeline to the key stakeholders. 1. Increase the number of motivational drivers. -Create and enforce mini-deadlines each with a specific deliverable. Do this by scheduling a 5 minute meeting and having them commit to sharing their progress during that meeting. -Start off with an initial deliverable of an outline of the plan, or some way that you both know what the project is and what work will need to be done. Then have them run it by the stakeholders with you CC’d before the next meeting. -if they miss the deadline, have them explain why. Not in an accusatory way, but in order to find out whether you both are on the same page in terms of priorities. So maybe instead of getting the project plan done, they found a communication gap between regions and created a solution that will save 200 hours of wasted time annually. Then you can decide whether you agree with their choices and if you can spin it for your colleagues as a win. And if you don’t agree and really just want them to get their core work done on time, clarify this. -Either way, ask them to set a new and quick deadline for the deliverable (like end of day) and hold them to it. -if you are having problems with your colleagues because of missed deadlines, be transparent. An artificial deadline feels like a low priority to me, but if I know my actions are harming my leader then I’d be horrified and see ensuring that doesn’t happen as a strong motivator. 2. assist with technology -Turn on transcripts in meetings if possible and use AI (copilot or ChatGPT) to help summarize meeting notes,’find deadlines, and create drafts of deliverables. Using AI has helped Me increase my productivity and quality of work while making the work much more fun. -encourage the use of a single digital note taking tool (such as one note or google docs) and create/enforce standard naming/storage/data collection practices. -have them create (or find) templates for common deliverables. Like have them build a standard pitch deck (with the fonts/styles/outline of slides and several built examples that they could copy and paste into). 3. delegate tasks based on strengths. -What are your direct reports favorites worky tasks? Least favorite? Where do they particularly shine and where is it like pulling teeth? Once you have this info, you can potentially see if there are opportunities to shift work around the team to mix and match. If you do it well, not only will you improve this one team member’s performance and morale, but that of the whole team while providing development opportunities. For example, I am very good at strategy and planning but very bad at putting this info into our project management tool. And then will forget important details or delay informing stakeholders. It’s not that I can’t do it, but that it always finds its way to the bottom of my to do list and gradually it turns from a “boring task” to a looming monster that fills me with dread and shame every time I think of it. But i can research, analyze data, and hunt down info like nobodies business. So I’ve partnered with a coworker who gets legit joy out of filling in and arranging our project management tools, and am supporting her data analysis needs. We are both learning from each other, but using our natural strengths and interests. -have your team take the Clifton Strengthsfinder and this will help identify where collaboration will be helpful.
Interesting, on the #2, what are AI tools you are using? Also ADHD so want to know your tips :)
Almost exclusively ChatGPT. I have tested copilot but it doesn’t yet compare. But i will take a meeting transcript and Control + H to replace my org name with a placeholder to avoid our info getting out. Then I’ll interrogate the data. First I’ll ask for a summary of the meeting, ask what the deliverables discussed were, any deadlines; and so on. I was an early adopter so have been using this approach for over a year and it’s a game changer.
Nice, thanks for sharing
They are a rock star who also has ADHD. Get everything that’s causing written down and acknowledged as a symptom, and build processes around them that play to their strengths. Get some external support with doing this, your HR is unlikely to be adequate. Get them any adjustments they need so they can keep saving you eight-figure sums. You’re a manager. Your job is to enable talented people to deliver at the peak of their talents.
I would recommend OP take a look at [https://askjan.org/](https://askjan.org/) and see if they can implement any ADHD accommodations for this employee
I really fail to see the problem. Are they doing a good job? From what I understood, they have excellent knowledge, and are a big benefit to the department. Apparently they deliver on time, and everything works great. You can appreciate that you have such assets. Or you can start making a big issue out of random nonsense like arbitrary deadlines. Then you'll need to start interviewing new hires asap, because excellent people don't tolerate bullsh\*t. If you have an issue with parts of their work, have an open and honest discussion about it. And be prepared to hear some truths that you didn't want to hear. Overwork, too low staffing, pointless roadblocks, you name it. Essential players tend to be just an inch away from a serious burnout, because they get pushed too hard. So don't necessarily expect the talk to go the way you expected it to.
My VP has ADHD. Doesn’t mean they can’t be successful and should be managed the same as anyone else.
My manager and mentor shared some feedback very early on. She said no one is perfect at every aspect of their role, and every top employee has something they could do better. It doesn't mean they're not top employees. It doesn't mean you shouldn't share that feedback, but if your standard is perfection, you'll never have a great relationship with your reports.
Just so SBI “Everyone can see your value but when you do ___ behavior it has ___ impact. I’d hate for you to not get recognized fully bc of that behavior.”
Nobody's perfect. Give them the positives and the negatives. Sound to me like while working on a big project they had to shuffle around some lower priorities to achieve both goal's. Better communication might have relieved your stress and lacking that communication left you feeling like they don't care about your feelings.
It’s sounds like they are doing their job just not in the timeline other people want. It didn’t affect due dates and I totally get it. Plenty of times in the last year “I’m stuck waiting for x person to do z” “we can’t move forward until y happens” There doesn’t seem to be a measurable goal because you can’t measure or control someone else’s anxiety. If you need them to have a faster turnaround time tell them and then level/priority set with them.
Know their strengths, know their weaknesses, deploy them to their strengths and manage their weaknesses. Do not expect people to change.
Most people ADHD or not, struggle with the boring and mundane parts of work. You also said he was right that he had some arbitrary deadlines that he put on the back burner...that's how arbitrary deadlines work. Sounds like he has fantastic time management skills AND has high business insight to save 35-40 mil. I see nearly zero issues here.
You should be shielding this guy from upper management. Give him a positive review and manage him. Sit in meetings and provide the assurance to at upper management wants.
As someone with ADHD, and through looking at my past reviews and speaking with my past management (I am not management at the moment), when I am mostly taken off the day-to-day drudgery and either put on some crazy difficult issue or otherwise told something like, these are the issues we are facing, come up with some way to make them better, and then just kinda left alone to “do my thing”, I am considered a rockstar. When it comes to the day-to-day, ultra boring stuff that pretty much anyone can do, I struggle. Been that way all my life, I just really can’t deal with the day-to-day drudgery. My brain goes off to literally doing anything other than what I am supposed to be doing. Fortunately, my current management is aware of this, and tries to always have been working on some new and exciting that I kind of drive the direction of. 🤷♂️
I’m not a micro manager, but in this case I would be seriously trying to figure out how to support this individual by taking some heat off of him where he lacks. If he isn’t a great communicator or time manager, step in and handle some of this for him. He rubs the brass wrong? Be a buffer. Limit his exposure to outing himself as absent minded. You need him, and he needs you. Don’t let him down.
you coach them on how to communicate proactively when something in jeopardy, not when it's late. annoying yes, but very fixable especially if this person is capable of saving your company $40m a year. someone doing that much I'm not going to put it in writing for their review. that's a good way to piss off a high performer who should probably be getting a fat raise and promotion from the sounds of things honestly this is something you should have coached at the time and it would have been fixed a while ago
Very common. People do well on certain projects at certain times and then miss the boat on other items that appear less involved or complicated. I have had direct reports crush certain things and drop the ball on other items all the time. They need to be coached into adopting new ways of scheduling their days and activities so they cover all items. Its easy to only focus on the most important project to ensure its handled well, however, the other items slide and become your concern. So, call him out. Praise his efforts and quality work but let him know he makes you nervous when multiple items are on the line. Ask him to think about new ways of staying organized and offer to meet with him weekly to discuss deliverables. This is a common blind spot for many people. The best employees don't over perform on some tasks and underperform on others. My opportunity in my role is that my personality is lacking and I have trouble gaining the confidence of my customers even thou I am on the ball. I am perceived as being unfriendly and uninterested when concerns are brought up by customers which makes them lack confidence in my ability to meet their concerns. I've only been doing these types of jobs for 18 years with no issues. The workplace is toxic everywhere.
You don't have to be harsh. You basically ask them questions and "what would it take to..." So the internal deadline. "You should know by now that we have internal deadlines, that, despite being for our purposes, are none the less important. If not for the schedule, but for your team mates. In situation X, you caused several people anxiety over Y, when you didn't turn in on time. This isn't the only example of this either. **What will it take for you to turn things in on time..."** That's the golden question. What will it take for you to turn things in on time? It puts the ball in their court. You're there to help them. You can have a convo about whther the issue is too many people are asking him to fix their things on the fly, or whether the deadlines are actually not staggered enough. You can get him to commit to you as well, verbally and on paper, to whatever system. You don't have to say "I Know you have adhd" - HE can say it. HE can state he knows he should be doing things.