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 numerous individuals from your business have come together on a conference call. As the call proceeds, voices go up and down…and are sometimes hard to hear. But you’re fairly certain you got the gist of it.
Cranking the speaker up just makes it sound more distorted. So you simply make do, interpreting what’s being said the best you can. You’re really good at that.
As you try to listen, the voices sound specifically muffled for about a minute. This is the stage where the potential client asks “so precisely how will your firm help us solve this?””
You freeze. You have no clue what their company’s issue is because you didn’t hear the last part of the discussion. This is your contract and your boss is counting on you. What do you do?
Do you request they repeat themselves? They might think you weren’t paying attention. What about resorting to some slick sales jargon? No, that will be too obvious.
Every single day, people everywhere go through scenarios like this at work. Oftentimes, they try to pretend they’re okay and wing it.
But how is neglected hearing loss really affecting your work in general? The following will help us find out.
Unequal pay
A representative sampling of 80,000 individuals was collected by The Better Hearing Institute using the same approach that the Census Bureau uses.
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 find out what the cause is, but as the illustration above shows, hearing loss can impact your overall performance. The deal couldn’t be closed, unfortunately. When they got the impression that the salesperson wasn’t listening to them, they went with someone else. They decided to go with a company that listens better.
He lost out on a commission of $1000.
The circumstances were misconstrued. But that doesn’t change the impact on his career. How may things have been different if he were using 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 suffer a serious work accident. And, your danger of ending up in the emergency room after a significant fall increases by 300% according to other studies.
And it might come as a shock that individuals with minor hearing loss had the highest danger among those who have hearing loss. Perhaps they don’t grasp that hearing loss of any type impairs an individual at work.
How to have a successful career with hearing loss
You have a lot to offer an employer:
- Empathy
- Experience
- Personality
- Skills
- Confidence
Hearing loss shouldn’t overshadow these. But it is frequently a factor. It may be affecting your job more than you recognize. Take measures to lessen the impact like:
- So that you have it in writing, it’s not a bad plan to write a respectful accommodations letter for your boss.
- Be certain your work space is brightly lit. Even if you’re not a lip reader, looking directly at them can help you understand what’s being said.
- Request that you get a hearing aid compatible (HAC) phone. The sound goes straight into your ear and not through background noise. In order to use this technology you will need a hearing aid that’s appropriate.
- Know that you aren’t required to reveal that you have hearing loss during an interview. And it isn’t okay for the interviewer to ask. Conversely, you might need to consider if your neglected hearing loss will impact your ability to interview well. You will most likely need to make the interviewer aware of your condition if that’s the situation.
- Before a meeting, ask if you can get a written agenda and overview. Conversations will be easier to follow.
- If a job is going to surpass your capability you need to speak up. For instance, your boss may ask you to cover for someone who works in a noisy area. In order to make up for it, offer to take on a different task. That way, it will never seem like you’re not doing your part.
- Wear your hearing aids while you’re at work every day, at all times. If you have your hearing aids in you might not even require many of the accommodations.
- When you’re talking to people, make sure you face them. Try to keep phone conversations to a minimum.
Hearing loss at work
Even if you have slight hearing loss, it can still effect your work performance. But many of the challenges that untreated hearing loss can create will be solved by having it treated. Call us today – we can help!