Imagine for a minute you’re a salesperson. Today, you’re on a very important call with a possible client. Multiple representatives from their offices have gathered to talk about whether to employ your company for the job. As the call goes on, voices go up and down…and are sometimes difficult to hear. But you’re hearing most of it.
And it sounds distorted and even less clear when you keep cranking up the volume. 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. Then suddenly you hear, “so what can your company do to help us with this”?”
You freeze. You didn’t hear the last few minutes and aren’t sure what problem they’re attempting to resolve. Your boss is counting on you to seal this deal. So now what?
Do you request they repeat themselves? They’ll think you were distracted. What about resorting to some slippery sales jargon? No, that will be too obvious.
Individuals go through scenarios like this every day when they are at work. Oftentimes, they try to pretend they’re okay and wing it.
But how is untreated hearing loss actually impacting your work as a whole? The following can help us find out.
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 about $12,000 less per year than those who are able to hear.
Hey, that’s not fair!
Hearing loss effects your overall performance so it’s not hard to understand the above example. The deal couldn’t be closed, regrettably. Everything was going very well until the client thought he wasn’t paying attention to them. They didn’t want to deal with a company that doesn’t listen.
His commission on this contract would have been more than $1000.
The circumstances were misconstrued. But how do you think this affected his career? How might things have been different if he were using his hearing aids?
Injuries on the job
People who have neglected hearing loss are almost 30% more likely to sustain a significant workplace injury according to a study carried out by the American Medical Association. Studies also show a 300% increased chance of having a significant fall and ending up in the emergency room.
And it might come as a shock that people with minor hearing loss had the highest danger among those who have hearing loss. 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 a lot to offer an employer:
- Skills
- Confidence
- Empathy
- Personality
- Experience
Hearing loss shouldn’t dominate these. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t be a factor. It could be impacting your job more than you recognize. Take measures to reduce 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. You will need hearing aids that will work with this technology to use one.
- Be certain your work area is brightly lit. Seeing lips can help you follow even if you’re not a lip reader.
- Speak up when a job surpasses your abilities. Your boss may, for instance, ask you to go and do some work in an area of the building that can be very noisy. Offer to do a different job to make up for it. By doing that, your boss won’t think you’re coping out.
- Write a respectful accommodations letter to your boss. By doing this, you have it in writing.
- Asking for a written overview/agenda before a meeting. It will be easier to follow the discussion.
- Wear your hearing aids while your working every day, at all times. If you have your hearing aids in you might not even require many of the accommodations.
- Recognize that during a job interview, you’re not required to divulge that you have hearing loss. And the interviewer may not ask. However, you may need to think about if your untreated hearing loss will impact your ability to have a successful interview. You will probably need to inform the interviewer of your condition if that’s the situation.
- Face people when you’re speaking with them. Try to keep phone conversations to a minimum.
Working with hearing loss
Hearing loss can impact your work, even if it’s minor. But lots of the obstacles that untreated hearing loss can create will be solved by having it treated. Call us right away – we can help!