For just a minute, picture that you’re working as a salesperson. Now picture that you have a call scheduled today with a very important client. Your company is being considered for a job and several people from your business have come together on a conference call. As the call goes on, voices go up and down…and are at times hard to hear. But you’re fairly certain you got the gist of it.
Turning up the speaker just makes it sound more distorted. So you simply do your best, interpreting what’s being said the best you can. You’re quite good at that.
There comes a point in the conversation where things get particularly difficult to hear. This is the point where the potential client asks “so precisely how will your firm help us solve this?””
You panic. You have no idea what their company’s problem is because you didn’t hear the last part of the conversation. This is your contract and your boss is depending on you. So now what?
Should you acknowledge you didn’t hear them and ask them to reprise what they said? They might think you weren’t paying attention. Do you start using a lot of sales jargon? No, that will be too conspicuous.
Individuals go through scenarios like this every day when they are at work. They attempt to read between the lines and cope.
So in general, how is your work being impacted by your hearing loss? The following can help us find out.
Lower wages
The Better Hearing Institute surveyed 80,000 people using the same approach the Census Bureau uses to get a representative sampling.
They found that individuals who have neglected hearing loss make around $12,000 less per year than people who are able to hear.
Hey, that isn’t fair!
Hearing loss effects your general performance so it’s not difficult to understand the above example. Unfortunately, he didn’t close the deal. When they got the impression that the salesperson wasn’t paying attention to them, they pulled out. They didn’t want to deal with a company that doesn’t listen.
His commission on this deal would have been more than $1000.
The situation was misconstrued. But that doesn’t change the impact on his career. If he was wearing hearing aids, imagine how different things might have been.
Injuries on the job
Individuals who have neglected hearing loss are almost 30% more likely to incur a serious on-the-job 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 increases by 300% according to other studies.
And it may come as a shock that individuals with minor hearing loss had the highest chance among those who have hearing loss. Perhaps they don’t grasp that hearing loss of any type impairs a person at work.
How to have a successful career with hearing loss
Your employer has a great deal to gain from you:
- Confidence
- Personality
- Skills
- Empathy
- Experience
These positive qualities shouldn’t be dominated by hearing loss. But it is often a factor. You might not even recognize how big an effect on your job it’s having. Take steps to minimize the impact like:
- Request that you get a hearing aid compatible (HAC) phone. The sound goes straight into your ear and not through background noise. In order to utilize this technology you will require a hearing aid that’s compatible.
- Never overlook using your hearing aids at work and all of the rest of the time. If you’re wearing your hearing aids you might not even need many of the accommodations.
- Write a sincere accommodations letter to your boss. By doing this, you have it in writing.
- Keep a well lit work area. Even if you don’t read lips, looking directly at them can help you make out what’s being said.
- Speak up when a task surpasses your abilities. For example, your boss may want you to cover for somebody who works in a really loud part of the building. Offer to do a different job to make up for it. By doing that, your boss won’t think you’re just trying to get out of doing work.
- Recognize that during a job interview, you aren’t required to disclose that you have hearing loss. And the interviewer can’t ask. Conversely, you might need to think about if your neglected hearing loss will impact your ability to have a successful interview. In that case, you may choose to divulge this before the interview.
- Before attending a meeting, ask 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 face them. Try to keep phone conversations to a minimum.
Hearing loss at work
Even if you have mild hearing loss, it can still effect your work performance. But getting it treated will frequently eliminate any obstacles you face with neglected hearing loss. We can help so contact us!