Imagine for a minute you’re a salesperson. Now picture that you have a call scheduled today with a really important client. Numerous representatives from their offices have come together to discuss whether to hire your business for the job. All of the different voices get a bit muddled and hard to understand. But you’re getting most of it.
And it sounds distorted and even less clear when you keep turning up the volume. So you just do your best at filling in the blanks. You’re really good at that.
As you try to listen, the voices sound specifically muffled for around a minute. This is the point where the potential client asks “so exactly how will your company help us solve this?””
You panic. You didn’t hear the last few minutes and aren’t certain what issue they’re attempting to solve. Your boss is counting on you to seal this deal. What can you do?
Do you ask them to repeat themselves? They might think you weren’t paying attention. Do you start using a lot of sales jargon? No, that will be too obvious.
People go through scenarios like this every day when they are at work. They try to read between the lines and cope.
So in general, how is your work being affected by your hearing loss? The following can help us find out.
Lower wages
The Better Hearing Institute questioned 80,000 individuals using the same technique the Census Bureau uses to get a representative sampling.
Individuals who have neglected hearing loss earn, on average, $12,000 less per year.
That doesn’t seem fair!
Hearing loss effects your overall performance so it’s not difficult to understand the above example. The deal couldn’t be closed, sadly. Everything was going excellently until the client thought he wasn’t paying attention to them. They didn’t want to work with a firm that doesn’t listen.
He missed out on a $1000 commission.
It was just a misunderstanding. But how do you think this impacted his career? How may things have been different if he were using his hearing aids?
Injuries on the job
People who have untreated hearing loss are almost 30% more likely to incur a serious workplace injury according to a study conducted by the American Medical Association. And, your danger of ending up in the emergency room after a significant fall goes up by 300% according to other studies.
And it might come as a surprise that individuals with minor hearing loss had the highest risk among those with hearing loss. Maybe, their hearing loss is mild enough that they’re not even aware of it.
Even if you have hearing loss, you can still be successful at work
You have so much to offer an employer:
- Skills
- Empathy
- Personality
- Confidence
- Experience
These positive qualities shouldn’t be dominated by hearing loss. But it is often a factor. It could be impacting your job more than you realize. Here are some ways to lessen that impact:
- Look directly at people when you’re conversing with them. Try to keep phone conversations to a minimum.
- Request a phone that is HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible). The sound goes directly into your ear instead of through background noise. You will require hearing aids that will work with this technology to use one.
- Never overlook using your hearing aids while you’re at work and all of the rest of the time. When you do this, lots of of the accommodations won’t be necessary.
- So that you have it in writing, it’s not a bad plan to compose a respectful accommodations letter for your boss.
- Be aware that you aren’t required to divulge that you have hearing loss when you’re interviewing. And the interviewer may not ask. But the other consideration is whether your hearing loss will have an effect on your ability to have a successful interview. In that situation, you may choose to divulge this before the interview.
- Keep a brightly lit work space. Even if you don’t read lips, being able to see them can help you discern what’s being said.
- If a job is going to be beyond your capability you need to speak up. Your boss may, for example, ask you to go and do some work in a part of the building that can be really noisy. In order to make up for it, offer to take on a different job. If you do that, your boss won’t think you’re just trying to get out of doing work.
- Before a meeting, ask if you can get a written agenda and outline. It will be easier to keep up with the conversation.
Hearing loss at work
Hearing loss can impact your work, even if it’s mild. But many of the obstacles that neglected hearing loss can pose will be solved by having it treated. Contact us right away – we can help!