Hiring a Hearing Impaired Person

Hearing impaired people can work in almost any environment. Sometimes it is challenging and the way we do things are different, but it’s possible. But, it can be daunting for managers and other co-workers. If you are a manager, first go back and read this post. It lists general tips on speaking with a hearing impaired person. Next, the tips below are specifically for you.

1. Hire them. Don’t think that just because they can’t hear very well means they can’t do their job very well. One has nothing to do with the other. The potential employee wouldn’t be sitting in your office being interviewed if they believed they couldn’t do the job because of their hearing loss.

2. Lots of training these days are videos-ensure that they have captions. If they do not have captions, consider training the employee a different way. Another option is to have the employee watch the videos to see what they can pick up on, and then discuss what was missed.

3. Try not to converse with them in the middle of a task. Listening takes their entire focus and forces them to stop what they are doing. If it can’t wait, tap them on the arm and get their attention. But, don’t expect them to be able to listen and continue with the task.

4. Tell other management and employees, but don’t tell customers. It’s nice when the owner/manager tells other employees so the hearing impaired person doesn’t have to repeat themselves a million times when meeting everyone. However, there is no need to tell every customer/client that comes in. If it becomes a problem, the hearing impaired employee will let them know to speak up.

5. Be patient. The new employee is learning a completely new way of doing things. Ask them what you can do to better help them, but don’t be overbearing. Let them figure things out; they will ask for help if needed.

Doing these five things will build trust and allow for a comfortable work environment for everyone. Remember to ask questions and be patient.

#workingwithhearingloss #employer