Just picture for a minute you’re a salesperson. Today, you’re on a very important call with a potential client. Your company is being considered for a job and numerous individuals from your business have gathered on a conference call. All of the various voices get a bit muddled and difficult to understand. But you’re getting most of it.
Turning 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 pretty good at that.
There comes a point in the conversation where things get particularly difficult to hear. Then suddenly you hear, “so what can your company do to help us with this”?”
You panic. You have no idea what their company’s issue is because you didn’t hear the last part of the conversation. Your boss is counting on you to seal this deal. So now what?
Do you ask them to repeat themselves? They’ll think you were distracted. Do you begin 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. Sometimes, they try to pretend they’re okay and wing it.
But how is neglected hearing loss really impacting your work in general? Let’s see.
Lower wages
A representative sampling of 80,000 individuals was collected by The Better Hearing Institute utilizing the same method that the Census Bureau uses.
They discovered that individuals who have untreated hearing loss make around $12,000 less per year than people who can hear.
That doesn’t seem fair!
We could dig deep to try to figure out what the cause is, but as the example above shows, hearing loss can affect your overall performance. Sadly, he couldn’t close the deal. Everything was going very well until the client thought he wasn’t paying attention to them. They decided to go with a company that listens better.
He lost out on a $1000 commission.
The circumstances were misconstrued. But that doesn’t change the impact on his career. How may things have been different if he were wearing his hearing aids?
On the Job Injuries
People who have neglected hearing loss are almost 30% more likely to sustain a serious workplace injury according to a study carried out by the American Medical Association. And, your danger of ending up in the emergency room after a serious fall increases by 300% according to other research.
And it might come as a surprise that individuals with mild hearing loss had the highest danger among those who have hearing loss. Maybe, their hearing loss is minor enough that they don’t even know about it.
How to have a prosperous career with hearing loss
Your employer has a great deal to gain from you:
- Personality
- Confidence
- Empathy
- Experience
- Skills
Hearing loss shouldn’t overshadow these. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t be a factor. You might not even know how great an effect on your job it’s having. Here are some ways to lessen that impact:
- Before a meeting, ask if you can get a written agenda and overview. It will be easier to follow the conversation.
- Speak up when a job is beyond your abilities. For example, your boss might want you to cover for someone who works in a really loud part of the building. Offer to do a different job to make up for it. In this way, it will never seem like you’re not doing your part.
- Ask for a phone that is HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible). The sound goes directly into your ear and not through background noise. In order to use this technology you will need a hearing aid that’s compatible.
- Wear your hearing aids while you’re at work every day, all the time. When you do, many of the accommodations won’t be necessary.
- Be certain your work space is well lit. Even if you’re not a lip reader, looking directly at them can help you make out what’s being said.
- Write a respectful accommodations letter to your boss. This way, you have it in writing.
- Recognize that during a job interview, you aren’t required to reveal that you have hearing loss. 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 good interview. You will most likely need to make the interviewer aware of your condition if that’s the situation.
- When you’re speaking with people, make sure you face them. Try not to talk on the phone as much as possible.
Hearing loss at work
Even if you have mild hearing loss, it can still impact your performance at work. But getting it treated will often get rid of any barriers you face with neglected hearing loss. Give us a call today – we can help!