Working with Hearing Impaired Employees - Giving Them a Fair Go

Hearing impaired people often encounter difficulty at work because their disability isn't visible. I'd like to relate to you, briefly, the sorry saga of a young man who has recently been dragged through a performance management process, essentially brought about by misunderstanding, frustration on his behalf, and failure by an employer to make a 'reasonable adjustment' [Australian law includes the concept of reasonable adjustment which in effect means that employers are required to make reasonable adjustments necessary to enable employment opportunities for disabled people]in relation to this person's employment.

The man involved has been hearing impaired from birth having a severe/profound loss of a bilateral nature caused by rubella (German measles) during his gestation. That is, he hears high pitch sounds with one ear and low pitch with the other. With hearing aids in a sound proof room, he has around 20 percent hearing. But hearing aids pick up all noise, not just speech.

When in a one-to-one conversation with no background interference, he can conduct a normal conversation. To do that, he has to listen intently (unlike people with normal hearing) and read the lips of people with whom he is conversing. His main challenge in life is that people who talk with him one-to-one think that with hearing aids he can hear like anyone else. That is far wide of reality.

In one work unit, staff with whom this man worked were told that he was hearing impaired ? nothing else. When people talked to him at a distance while he had his back towards them, he did not respond. Frequently, people became annoyed with him because they thought they were being ignored. They would then shout. He'd hear the shouting and turn around to see a fellow worker with an angry look ? it's hard to shout without looking angry ? try it. He'd then get angry because he would be confused about why the person shouting at him was angry.

Sometimes people would talk to him as they walked along a long corridor, or when there was background equipment working, or noise from other voices etc. Eventually, he was moved to another work group. This one had several foreign staff who spoke English as a second language. It was also a work area where there was background noise from air-conditioning and industrial machinery. No effort was made to advise the staff how much this fellow could hear, or how to deal with him. Within weeks, there was more conflict and the hearing impaired man was suspended on pay and eventually transferred yet again.

Unfortunately, the employing body was a government hospital, full of professionals who are expected to be 'caring' types, but who couldn't seem to extend their caring to a fellow employee.

The moral of the story is that if you would ask a one-armed person what they needed to be able to work safely, effectively and efficiently, why not do the same for a hearing impaired person? The simple answer is that people who are not hearing impaired have no idea what it is like and because it's an invisible ailment, we don't take it so seriously.

The principle of reasonable adjustment requires that we make reasonable adjustment for people with a disability. All the employer reasonably needed to do was to conduct a meeting with people from the young man's work group and explain his level of hearing impairment, what it meant and how to cope with it. For example, if he had his back to you and you wanted to talk with him, touch him on the shoulder to get his attention; if the area was noisy, indicate with him to move somewhere quiet, and then talk face-to-face. They could have asked the man to explain to people what he can hear, can't hear and how best he could have been integrated into the workplace. It could have been that easy.

If you are dealing with hearing impaired people, be considerate enough to ask them how you can make the environment better for them to hear. They'll tell you what they need and what makes it difficult for them.

This sorry saga led to the hearing impaired worker being 'let go' with a cash settlement. The lesson for all employers of disabled people in an age of anti-discrimination legislation, is that you cannot afford not to manage these issues competently. If in doubt, get advice from your Human Resources people or other professionals such as audiologists, psychologists, occupational therapists and so on. It may save you a lot of trouble and cash in the long run.

Copyright Robin Henry 2005

Robin Henry is a human resources and development professional and Internet marketer who operates an online business from Central Australia. He writes on a range of topics, many of which can be found here or at his site at http://www.dwave.com.au.

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


How to Meet Quality Standards with ISO 9001

In today's hectic business environment, it is vital that we... Read More

Balance Your Managerial Life

We have only one life, but we live in three... Read More

Rules for Running a Meeting

As an experienced manager, I can announce without a doubt... Read More

ISO 9001 and Total Quality Management

Total Quality ManagementTotal Quality Management, or TQM, has become one... Read More

Building A Stellar Business One Employee At A Time

Top businesses that continually lead their industry clearly understand a... Read More

The Role of the Machine Metaphor in Mixed-initiative Organizational Leadership

"Can This Marriage be Saved?" So reads the title of... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Finding The Perfect Balance

This article relates to the Work/Life Balance competency, which investigates... Read More

Knowing versus Doing - Execution In The Workplace

Have you ever worked with someone who always seemed to... Read More

Enable Continuous Improvement of IT Services through ITIL

One of the major benefits, if not THE benefit of... Read More

5 Creative Evolutionary Leadership Niche Strategies!

I have a short story to share with you about... Read More

Counseling Interviews for the Marginal Employee

ACTIVE LISTENING: The most frequent cause of failure in therapeutic... Read More

Innovation Management ? forced into it!

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Phone Sex is Bad for Business

On August 3rd/2005, Reuters reported that a German man had... Read More

Shrinkage Control

What has been your store's shrinkage experience for the last... Read More

Motivation - You Get What You Reward

There's a programme currently running on BBC Television in the... Read More

Taking Care of Middle Manager Bounce Off

How many times have the management consultants been 'in' and... Read More

The Fairness of Office Politics... Integrity and Political Motivation!

I hear many complaints daily about the "unfairness" of politics... Read More

Oasis in a Cash Flow Desert - Four Resources That Increase Small Business Capital Streams

For small business owners, an enthusiastic vision for smooth, steady... Read More

How to Hire the Right People

One of the biggest challenges any business owner or manager... Read More

Todays Employees and Their New Needs: What You Need to Know

Today's employees are not only interested in security or in... Read More

Overcoming the Document Tracking Challenge

"Where did it go? It was here yesterday. Wait. Here... Read More

Innovation Management ? Raw brainpower versus experience

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

What Is Business Sense?

What is the principal thing you need to succeed in... Read More

How To Conduct Effective Meetings

Before you call your next meeting, the FIRST step is... Read More

5 Steps to Continuous Process Improvement

Part One of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesWhat if your sales... Read More

Customer Focus - Just 5 SimpleThings You Need to Think About

You can boil down the difference between successful businesses and... Read More

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

You can't build a reputation on what you are "going"... Read More

Attract and Retain Positively Great Employees - An Action Plan for Employee Training

Everyday a business owner, CEO, or manager somewhere is complaining... Read More

Enhancing the Motivational Climate of Your Workplace

It has been well documented that employees' productivity and job... Read More

The How-Tos of Firing Incompetent Employees

CATEGORIES OF OFFENSES: Most organizations have two categories of offenses... Read More

Leaders Versus Cheerleaders

Everyone wants to describe themselves as a leader. Everyday, new... Read More

Summertime Blues

It's hard to believe the year will be half over... Read More

Creativity Management ? Quality from Quantity

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More