Listening, Learning and Work

By Damien Howard

Being hard of hearing at work can make life hard especially for those with hearing loss as well as those they work with. This book explores the experiences of having hearing loss and what can be done to create a more productive work environment. It focuses especially on the experiences of indigenous Australians who, like many other indigenous people around the world have higher incidences of hearing loss that result from childhood middle ear disease.
It:

* Provides tools for identifying those who suffer from hearing loss.

Many people with mild hearing problems that began in childhood do not recognize that they hear differently from others.

* Explains the processes that contribute to for higher levels of anxiety at work often experienced by people with hearing loss.

* Provides strategies for improving work performance and minimizing interpersonal difficulties and stress in the work environment.

This book is essential reading for human resource managers, supervisors, working counselors and all those who need to resolve workplace issues that are often contributed to by hearing loss effects. It is a resource that will benefit many professionals who are training to improve work outcomes for this neglected and often invisible group of workers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Damien Howard
• Release date: Apr 8, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311253729

Damien Howard

Dr Damien Howard is a psychologist and educator based in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Most people in Australia are unaware that up to 60% of Aboriginal adults in some areas experience some degree of hearing loss or have auditory processing problems. Early onset and repeated ear disease in childhood can leave a legacy of hearing loss and/auditory processing problems that affect people for the rest of their lives. These ‘listening problems’ can limit opportunities for successful employment outcomes because they affect communication, confidence, wellbeing and workplace learning. This book is the first to explore how others can help to address this all too often invisible element of Indigenous disadvantage. It is hoped that it will help to change the way its readers think about and communicate with Indigenous people. It is especially hoped that it will help readers to understand the communication needs of the many Indigenous people have hearing loss and/or auditory processing problems.

Hearing loss is the most common disability in Australia. The common perception of those who are hard-of-hearing in mainstream Australia is of an older person with noise-induced or age-related hearing loss. This understanding reflects the fact that 85 percent of non Indigenous people who are hard of hearing in mainstream Australia are over 50 years of age. In contrast, among Indigenous people, hearing loss is most often the result of damage caused by childhood ear disease; damage that is also now increasingly being exacerbated by exposure to excessive noise during childhood, adolescence and adult life. For Indigenous people who are hard of hearing their hearing loss begins when they are children and remains an issue for the rest of their lives. The incidence of this type of hearing loss is greatest in the communities which suffer most from broader social and economic disadvantage.

Hearing loss which begins in early in childhood affects language acquisition, auditory processing abilities, social development and educational opportunities and attainment. When hearing loss begins at an early age the people affected are likely to experience more serious functional difficulties throughout their lives than is the case for Australians who do not begin toexperience hearing loss until a later stage of adult life. Further, when people are affected by early onset hearing loss it is more common that theyare not aware that their hearing is not normal.

Despite the now widespread public concern about Indigenous disadvantage and the known higher prevalence of hearing loss among Indigenous people, there has been little consideration of the links between Indigenous hearing loss and poor educational and employment outcomes. This is due in part to the fact that hearing loss and auditory processing problems are largely invisible issues. Indigenous hearing loss is not mentioned as an issue in any of the major reports on Indigenous employment and training on the NCVER (National Centre for Vocational Education Research) website. Employers, supervisors and trainers are mostly unaware ofthe widespread incidence of hearing loss among Indigenous workers, and its occupational consequences. Indigenous people who have early onset hearing loss or auditory processing problems are often unaware that they find things harder to understand than their colleagues at work. Most often those who work with Indigenous Australians are aware only that they should take into account language and cultural issues as factors that influence communication.

However, listening problems amongst employees can have major consequences in workplaces. Listening problems among Indigenous workers can adversely affect workplace communication and workplace performance. The increased stress levels caused by communication problems can seriously affect an employee’s wellbeing. Diminished self-confidence, anxiety and absenteeism may occur. Difficulties related directly to impaired hearing may then be misinterpreted as related to poor motivation or limited capacity.

Indigenous employees with listening problems have a critical need for communication strategies that do not rely only on auditory and verbal signals. Communication strategies which include visual cues and use of context must supplement the spoken word. Employers and supervisors who understand and respond to these communication needs will see results that include greater productivity, improved wellbeing and higher retention rates among Indigenous staff.

This book has been written to assist all who work with Indigenous employees and trainees, or who are helping Indigenous people to find work. It is written for use by employment consultants, mentors, career counsellors, occupational psychologists, rehabilitation consultants and vocational trainers. In workplaces it can serve as a reference for the supervisors, human resource staff, trainers and managers who are directly engaged in the design and implementation of Indigenous employment programs.

The issues discussed in this book are derived from the limited formal research which has been undertaken in this field. The discussion is significantly informed by the author’s personal experiences in addressing and resolving the occupational problems of Indigenous people with hearing loss. Case studies are used to illustrate the nature of the identified issues.

It is a book which takes one more step along what is proving to be a very long journey in Australia - as people from all walks of life seek better social and economic outcomes for Indigenous people, among them the many with hearing loss.

This case study illustrates the kinds of workplace difficulties that can arise when employees have listening problems.

CASE STUDY

LESTER: WHEN IN DOUBT, AVOID

Lester, a young Indigenous man who has listening problems, is in the sixth month of an apprenticeship that he entered directly from school. He works in a public service department which provides services to Indigenous people, and is the only Aboriginal person employed in his section. He works in an area with many professional staff, and finds it difficult to understand the ‘white-collar’ English used in the office. Lester says he is often bored because he does not feel challenged by the work. He says that there are ‘too many older people in that workplace’ who ‘give up on you’ if you are not working to their standard. He would like to work with younger people.

His duties at work are project-based, and each new task must be explained to him. His supervisor, who has not previously worked with Indigenous staff, contacted a field officer because she was dissatisfied with Lester’s work performance. She said that Lester lacked enthusiasm at work and rarely finished tasks which were assigned to him. She said that she had treated him ‘nicely’ to begin with, but when Lester’s work failed to improve she became a harder supervisor.This did not have a positive effect on Lester’s performance. She said that when she tried talking to Lester it was ‘as if there was no-one home’. On one occassion she organised some training that he had asked for but he did not turn up.

At another time, a visit to a remote community was arranged so that Lester could learn about the type of work that was being done there but when he arrived at the community he said it was ‘too hot’ and wanted to stay under a tree at the airstrip. His employer viewed this as a wasted airfare, and visits to other communities were deemed pointless. Lester’s female supervisor attributed his behaviour to a lack of motivation.

When the problems were discussed with Lester, he said he often found it difficult to follow the instructions he was given. He didn’t understand the kind of language that was used, and he found the level of background noise at the time the instructions were given to be distracting. He was also uncomfortable in relating to his supervisor.

These were Lester’s comments on the situation:

Language: They use code names for stuff instead of saying the whole name. They say ‘DEET’ and you think ‘What the hell does that mean?

A work colleague mentioned that Lester had difficulty with professional staff who tended to use jargon. This colleague is careful in the language he uses when speaking to Lester, avoiding intimidating jargon and using language that Lester understands.

Knowing the person giving the instructions: If you don’t know the person you don’t feel like asking [for them to repeat instructions you haven’t understood] and you just sit there the whole day wondering what to do.

Background noise:You can see they are talking but you can’t understand what they are saying if other people are talking. If you are not concentrating it’s real hard to understand them, and if they use big words it’s even harder. Lester also said that when he was stressed it was even more difficult for him to cope with background noise. If you are relaxed it is easier to hear. When you are tense you hear everyone and it seems like it is all mixed up… I can hear them but can’t hear what they are saying.

Lester’s initial difficulties in understanding instructions were compounded by his failure to ask his supervisors to repeat instructions he had not understood, because this made him feel inadequate. He gave an example in relation to taking phone messages. "You are taking a call from the private sector where everything has to be ‘spot on’ and if you are asking them to repeat the number you are thinking, ‘Maybe I should not be here’. Lester has been in trouble several times, with different people, for getting important messages and numbers wrong. These difficulties are typical of those encountered by people with listening problems.

Lester avoids engaging in tasks where he feels he may fail. He thinks people have ‘given up on him’ because they are ‘too old’ to be patient. However, his supervisor interprets this task avoidance as a demonstration of lack of motivation. Neither Lester nor his supervisor are aware of the role that listening problems are playing in these circumstances. Both are keen for him to find another workplace where he may be better suited. Lester wants to work with younger people because he thinks they will have more patience. His supervisor wants him to go because she feels he has little motivation and she does not know how to manage him.

Like many people with listening problems Lester is skilled in reading body language, and is aware of the way people respond to his difficulties. You can tell when people are unhappy with you - but you don’t really want to ask them why, you just want to be clear of them.

Lester’s mood for the day can be dictated by a single mistake. His supervisor noticed that he could become moody and socially withdrawn. Lester confirmed this, saying that,Something happens and your confidence goes - like you come in, in the morning, and you do something wrong… and your confidence is gone for the day. You don’t want to talk to whoever growled you, and usually it is someone important.

Lester’s mood was an important factor in his avoidance of work. If you muck it up, you lack confidence next time you do it, so you don’t feel like doing it next time.

His supervisor told a story that had obviously shaped attitudes in the workplace with respect to Lester’s motivation. A manager had asked Lester to do some photocopying which was needed that afternoon. He said, ‘If you can’t do it, let me know’. Lester handed the documents back straight away, saying he would not be able to do it. Later that afternoon the manager saw him playing a computer game.

Lester described a process of misunderstood instructions, and the failure to ask for clarification which compounded the initial problem. He spoke of the avoidance behaviour he employed when it became clear that people were unhappy with his performance and his tendency to feel ‘down’ because of that. This cycle was affecting his morale and leading to absenteeism. You wake up in the morning and you worry about what they are thinking and you think, ‘I don’t even want to be there’. That is part of the reason I haven’t been going to work some days.

Lester’s supervisor has been concerned about his absenteeism and his failure to phone and notify the office that he would be absent. It appears that both Lester and his supervisor are correct in their conclusions about Lester’s performance. Lester does have a problem with motivation and morale and his perception that people have ‘given up on him’ is true. His difficulty in understanding instructions, his reluctance to ask for those instructions to be repeated and his avoidance strategies are the major causes of his work problems. However, it is not readily apparent that Lester’s listening problems may be the underlying cause.

During counselling, Lester was encouraged to make a practice of asking his supervisor to repeat information he didn’t understand and was assured that this was normal and desirable behaviour in the workplace. He was also provided with individual training in note-taking, and with assistance in managing stress.

Lester’s listening problems, and their workplace implications, were explained to his supervisor. He was advised that Lester found it difficult to understand spoken instructions and that he would often need information repeated and provided in other forms. The workplace colleague who had assisted Lester in understanding the ‘white collar’ language was asked to act as a mentor, to help with explanations of workplace communications. Some management changes were made to reduce the number of people who gave Lester instructions at work and to reduce the listening demands that he experienced in the workplace.

Lester was also encouraged to join a support group for Indigenous apprentices. This group helped him to realize that the workplace demands were the same as those encountered by other Indigenous trainees and that he was not, as he had often thought, being ‘targeted’ in any personal way.

This case study introduces a variety of issues related to listening problems in the workplace that we shall consider in more detail in later chapters.These issues include:

People with listening difficulties may not be aware they have them and