For just a second, picture that you have a job as a salesperson. Today, you’re on a very important call with a possible client. Your company is being considered for a job and several people from your company have gathered on a conference call. All of the various voices get a little muddled and hard to comprehend. But you’re getting most of it.
Turning the speaker up just makes it sound more distorted. So you simply make do, reading between the lines. You’ve become pretty good at that.
As you try to listen, the voices sound particularly muffled for about a minute. Then suddenly you hear, “so what can your company do to help us with this”?”
You freeze. You have no idea what their company’s problem is because you didn’t hear the last portion of the discussion. Your boss is depending on you to close this deal. So now what?
Do you request they repeat themselves? They’ll think you were distracted. What about relying on some slick sales jargon? No, that will be too conspicuous.
Every single day, individuals everywhere go through situations like this at work. They try to read between the lines and get by.
But how is neglected hearing loss actually impacting your work as a whole? The following can help us find out.
Lower wages
The Better Hearing Institute questioned 80,000 individuals utilizing the same approach the Census Bureau uses to obtain a representative sampling.
People who have disregarded hearing loss earn, on average, $12,000 less per year.
Hey, that’s not fair!
We could dig deep to try to figure out what the cause is, but as the illustration above demonstrates, hearing loss can impact your general performance. Sadly, he couldn’t close the deal. Everything was going very well until the client thought he wasn’t listening to them. They decided to go with a company that listens better.
He lost out on a $1000 commission.
The situation was misinterpreted. But how do you think this affected his career? How might things have been different if he were wearing his hearing aids?
Injuries on the job
A study revealed in the Journal of The American Medical Association found that people with neglected hearing loss are almost 30% more likely to have a significant work accident. And, your chance of ending up in the emergency room after a serious fall increases by 300% according to other studies.
And people with only mild hearing loss were at the highest risk, surprisingly! Perhaps they don’t realize that hearing loss of any kind impairs a person at work.
Even if you have hearing loss, you can still have a successful career
You have a lot to offer an employer:
- Personality
- Experience
- Empathy
- Confidence
- Skills
Hearing loss shouldn’t dominate these. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not a factor. It may be impacting your job more than you realize. Here are some ways to lessen that impact:
- Keep a brightly lit work area. Seeing lips can help you follow even if you’re not a lip reader.
- If a task is going to be beyond your capability you need to speak up. Your boss might, for example, ask you to go and do some work in an area of the building that can be very loud. Offer to do a different job to make up for it. If you do that, your boss won’t think you’re coping out.
- Before a meeting, ask if you can get a written agenda and overview. Discussions will be easier to follow.
- Ask for a phone that is HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible). The sound goes straight into your ear and not through background noise. You will need hearing aids that will work with this technology to use one.
- In order to have it in writing, it’s a good idea to draft up a sincere accommodations letter for your boss.
- Know that you aren’t required to reveal that you have hearing loss when you’re interviewing. And the interviewer may not ask. However, you may need to consider if your untreated hearing loss will impact your ability to have a successful interview. In that case, you may choose to divulge this before the interview.
- When you’re talking to people, make certain you face them. Try to keep phone calls to a minimum.
- Never overlook wearing your hearing aids at work and all of the rest of the time. When you do this, lots of of the accommodations aren’t necessary.
Hearing loss at work
Hearing loss can impact your work, even if it’s slight. But having it treated will frequently get rid of any obstacles you face with neglected hearing impairment. We can help so contact us!