Imagine for a minute you’re a salesperson. Today, you’re having a very important call with a potential client. Your company is being looked at for a job and numerous individuals from your business have come together on a conference call. All of the various voices get a bit muddled and hard to comprehend. But you’re fairly certain you got the gist of it.
Turning up the speaker just makes it sound more distorted. So you simply make do, reading between the lines. You’re very good at that.
There comes a point in the conversation where things get particularly difficult to hear. Then all of a sudden you hear, “so what can your company do to assist us with this”?”
You panic. You have no clue what their company’s problem is because you didn’t hear the last part of the discussion. This is your contract and your boss is counting on you. What do you do?
Should you admit you didn’t hear them and ask them to repeat what they said? They’ll think you were distracted. Do you start using a lot of sales jargon? No, they’ll see right through that.
People go through scenarios like this every day when they are at work. Sometimes, they try to pretend they’re okay and wing it.
So in general, how is your work being affected by your hearing loss? Let’s find out.
Unequal pay
A representative sampling of 80,000 people was obtained by The Better Hearing Institute using the same technique that the Census Bureau uses.
They found that people who have untreated hearing loss earn about $12,000 less per year than those who are able to hear.
That doesn’t seem fair!
We could dig deep to try to figure out what the cause is, but as the illustration above demonstrates, hearing loss can affect your general performance. Sadly, he couldn’t close the deal. Everything was going excellently until the client thought he wasn’t listening to them. They didn’t want to deal with a company that doesn’t listen.
His commission on this contract would have been more than $1000.
It was only a misunderstanding. But that doesn’t change the effect on his career. If he was wearing hearing aids, imagine how different things may have been.
Injuries on at work
Individuals who have neglected hearing loss are almost 30% more likely to incur a significant on-the-job injury according to a study carried out by the American Medical Association. Studies also show a 300% increased chance of having a significant fall and winding up in the emergency room.
And people with only minor hearing loss were at the greatest risk, unexpectedly! Maybe they don’t recognize that hearing loss of any type impairs a person at work.
Even if you have hearing loss, you can still have a successful career
Your employer has a great deal to gain from you:
- Confidence
- Skills
- Personality
- Empathy
- Experience
These positive qualities shouldn’t be dominated by hearing loss. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t be a factor. It could be affecting your job more than you realize. Take measures to lessen the impact like:
- If a task is going to be beyond your capability you need to speak up. For example, your boss might ask you to cover for someone who works in a really loud part of the building. So that you can make up for it, offer to take on a different task. That way, it never seems like you aren’t doing your part.
- Request a phone that is HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible). The sound goes straight into your ear instead of through background noise. You will require hearing aids that will work with this technology to use one.
- Before a meeting, find out if you can get a written agenda and overview. It will be easier to follow the conversation.
- When you’re talking with people, make sure you look directly at them. Try not to have phone conversations as much as you can.
- Never overlook using your hearing aids while you’re at work and all of the rest of the time. If you’re wearing your hearing aids you may not even require many of the accommodations.
- Recognize that during a job interview, you’re not required to reveal that you have hearing loss. And the interviewer can’t ask. But the other consideration is whether your hearing loss will have an impact on your ability to have a successful interview. You will probably need to make the interviewer aware of your condition if that’s the case.
- In order to have it in writing, it’s a good plan to draft up a sincere accommodations letter for your boss.
- Keep a brightly lit work area. Even if you’re not a lip reader, being able to see them can help you discern what’s being said.
Hearing loss at work
Even if you have mild hearing loss, it can still impact your work performance. But having it treated will often minimize any barriers you face with neglected hearing loss. Call us right away – we can help!
