Just picture for a minute you’re a salesperson. Today, you’re on a very important call with a possible client. Multiple reps from their offices have come together to talk about whether to hire your company for the job. All of the different voices get a bit jumbled and difficult to comprehend. But you’re pretty sure you got the gist of it.
Cranking the speaker up just makes it sound more distorted. So you simply do your best, interpreting what’s being said the best you can. You’ve become fairly 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 says “so exactly how will your firm help us solve this?””
You panic. You have no clue what their company’s issue is because you didn’t hear the last part of the conversation. This is your deal and your boss is counting on you. So now what?
Do you ask them to repeat themselves? They’ll think you were distracted. What about resorting to some slippery sales jargon? No, they’ll see right through that.
People go through situations like this every day when they are at work. Oftentimes, 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.
Lower wages
The Better Hearing Institute questioned 80,000 individuals utilizing the same technique the Census Bureau uses to get a representative sampling.
They found that people who have neglected hearing loss make about $12,000 less per year than people who can hear.
Hey, that isn’t fair!
Hearing loss effects your overall performance so it’s not hard to understand the above example. The deal couldn’t be closed, regrettably. When they thought that the salesperson wasn’t listening to them, they went with someone else. They decided to work with a company that listens better.
He missed out on a commission of $1000.
It was just 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.
Workplace Injuries
A study revealed in the Journal of The American Medical Association discovered that people with untreated hearing loss are almost 30% more likely to have a significant work accident. And, your risk of ending up in the emergency room after a significant fall goes up by 300% according to other studies.
And individuals with only slight hearing loss were at the greatest risk, unexpectedly! Maybe, their hearing loss is mild enough that they’re not even aware of it.
Even if you have hearing loss, you can still have a successful career
You have so much to offer an employer:
- Personality
- Empathy
- Confidence
- Skills
- Experience
Hearing loss shouldn’t overshadow these. But it is frequently a factor. It could be having an effect on your job more than you recognize. Here are a few ways to decrease that impact:
- Keep a brightly lit work area. Seeing lips can help you follow along even if you don’t read lips.
- Request that you get a hearing aid compatible (HAC) phone. The sound doesn’t go through background noise but rather goes directly into your ear. You will need hearing aids that will work with this technology to use one.
- Wear your hearing aids while your working every day, at all times. If you have your hearing aids in you may not even need many of the accommodations.
- When you’re speaking with people, make sure you look directly at them. Try to keep phone calls to a minimum.
- Know that you’re not required to reveal that you have hearing loss when you’re interviewing. And it isn’t okay for the interviewer to ask. But the other consideration is whether your hearing loss will have an effect on your ability to have a good interview. In that case, you might decide to divulge this before the interview.
- So that you have it in writing, it’s not a bad plan to write a sincere accommodations letter for your boss.
- Requesting a written outline/agenda before attending a meeting. Discussions will be easier to follow.
- If a task is going to be beyond your capability you need to speak up. For instance, your boss might ask you to cover for somebody who works in a really loud area. 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.
Working with hearing loss
Hearing loss can effect your work, even if it’s slight. But many of the obstacles that untreated hearing loss can pose will be resolved by having it treated. We can help so give us a call!