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I have an employee that I and several of my staff believe is having hearing problems. This situation is effecting her communication abilities--at least to my eye--with our patients. A light mention of it to her by one of my other staff members was not met well. Any suggestions on how to approach this with her? Aging and deterioration of things stinks, but it's going to happen to all of us. I want to be direct, yet empathetic with her. This must addressed however, because as I mentioned, it does seem to be effecting her work effectiveness. Any tips or suggestions?

jwyckoff's picture

Listen to the body odor casts -- you can address it in the same way.

Though it might be a fact that someone is losing their hearing -- if it affects behavior and performance, it's something that you should address. You can be sensitive, and still be effective.

Again, body odor cast gives great examples.

Jason

WillDuke's picture
Training Badge

You're making the deduction that it's a hearing problem. Do you really care whether she has a hearing problem? You care that she is exhibiting ineffective behavior.

Use feedback. Describe the behavior and results. Let her draw her own conclusions. Let her figure out how to adjust her behavior. If she decides it's a hearing issue, and she wants your help, help her if you can.

Focus on behavior.

TomW's picture
Training Badge

[quote="tg4dk"]I have an employee that I and several of my staff believe is having hearing problems. This situation is effecting her communication abilities--at least to my eye--with our patients. A light mention of it to her by one of my other staff members was not met well. Any suggestions on how to approach this with her? Aging and deterioration of things stinks, but it's going to happen to all of us. I want to be direct, yet empathetic with her. This must addressed however, because as I mentioned, it does seem to be effecting her work effectiveness. Any tips or suggestions?[/quote]

As Jason mentioned, the Body Odor cast covers this pretty well because it goes into more personal issues and their effect on work effectiveness. If it's hurting effectiveness, then feedback, coaching, and one-on-ones can help address it.

juliahhavener's picture
Licensee Badge

You may also do a forum search - I'm almost certain we had a discussion on this topic and Mark or Mike one spoke about a situation like yours. I seem to recall there being some excellent language and consideration factors in there.