Imagine for a minute you’re a salesperson. Today, you’re having a very important call with a possible client. Your company is being considered for a job and a number of people from your business have come together on a conference call. As the call continues, voices rise and fall…and are at times hard to hear. But you’re fairly sure you got the gist of it.
Cranking up the speaker just makes it sound more distorted. So you simply make do, reading between the lines. You’re really good at that.
As you listen, the voices sound particularly muffled for about a minute. Then all of a sudden you hear, “so what can your company do to assist us with this”?”
You freeze. You didn’t catch the last few minutes and aren’t sure what issue they’re attempting to resolve. This is your contract and your boss is depending 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 begin using a lot of sales jargon? No, that will be too obvious.
Every single day, individuals everywhere are dealing with scenarios like this at work. Oftentimes, they try to pretend they’re fine and wing it.
But how is untreated hearing loss actually affecting your work as a whole? Let’s see.
Lower wages
A representative sampling of 80,000 people was collected by The Better Hearing Institute utilizing the same approach that the Census Bureau uses.
People who have neglected hearing loss earn, on average, $12,000 less per year.
Hey, that isn’t fair!
We could dig deep to attempt to find out what the cause is, but as the illustration above shows, hearing loss can impact your general performance. Unfortunately, he didn’t close the deal. When they thought that the salesperson wasn’t paying attention to them, they pulled out. They didn’t want to work with a firm that doesn’t listen.
His commission on this contract would have been more than $1000.
The situation was misconstrued. But that doesn’t change the effect on his career. If he was using hearing aids, think about how different things might have been.
Injuries on the job
A study reported 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. Studies also show a 300% increased risk of having a significant fall and winding up in the emergency room.
And it may come as a shock 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’re not even aware of it.
Even if you have hearing loss, you can still be successful at work
Your employer has a great deal to gain from you:
- Personality
- Skills
- Experience
- Empathy
- Confidence
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. Take steps to lessen the impact like:
- Ask for a phone that is HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible). 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.
- Use your hearing aids at work every day, all the time. When you do this, lots of of the accommodations won’t be necessary.
- In order to have it in writing, it’s not a bad idea to draft up a sincere accommodations letter for your boss.
- Be aware 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. Conversely, you might need to consider if your untreated hearing loss will impact your ability to have a successful interview. In that case, you may choose to reveal this before the interview.
- Speak up when a job is beyond your abilities. For instance, your boss might want you to cover for someone who works in a noisy part of the building. In order to make up for it, offer to undertake a different task. If you do that, your boss won’t think you’re just trying to get out of doing work.
- Be certain your work space is brightly lit. Being able to see lips can help you follow even if you’re not a lip reader.
- Requesting a written outline/agenda before attending a meeting. Conversations will be easier to follow.
- When you’re speaking with people, make certain you look directly at them. Try not to talk on the phone as much as you can.
Hearing loss at work
Hearing loss can effect your work, even if it’s mild. But having it treated will frequently minimize any obstacles you face with neglected hearing loss. We can help so call us!