Female doctor filling patient data in front of a desktop.

Partner with us

As a Phonak partner, you’ll get access to industry-leading hearing solutions, our extensive resource library, marketing support to help your business grow, community events, training, and more. Someone struggling with a hearing disability in the workplace may also arrive early to meetings to claim a certain position at the table, possibly in the middle if he or she is experiencing overall hearing loss, or at one end or side if the hearing issue is worse in a specific ear. He or she may choose a seat in the front row at a presentation so that he or she is closest to the speaker.

Consultation with experienced female audiologist to mature woman patient at medical clinic.

ENT doctor checking African female kid's ear using an otoscope. Hearing exam for children

Young female patient being explained the human ear anatomy

friendly young asian doctor talking to old couple in hospital hallway

Listening fatigue

“You may feel tired at the end of the day because you’re straining to listen, also known as listening fatigue, due to higher effort used listening,” Rakita said.

If you’ve ever experienced that exhaustion after a day of being tuned-in at a conference or all-day meeting, you’ve encountered a form of listening fatigue. That feeling is multiplied if you are struggling with hearing loss, since you’re working that much harder to hear and comprehend everything being said, filling in words and making your ears and mind work that much harder.

The career effect

“You feel like you’re missing things that other people are understanding because you look around to see if other people seem to be getting it or are also missing out,” Rakita said. “Those with hearing issues try to compensate by nodding, by taking a guess at what’s said based on a couple of words they heard, or by not saying anything at all.”

The struggle of not feeling like you fully know what’s going on can lead to withdrawal because it’s difficult, embarrassing, or frustrating to continue to participate in certain meetings and conversations and equally difficult to not be included in them.

“Withdrawal should be a huge red flag, but it takes some self-awareness to notice it and seek help,” she added. “Family members or a significant other might notice hearing loss first, since hearing loss can be difficult to sense in yourself.”

Focus on work rather than on hearing

Advanced hearing aid technology does a great job of helping you hear friends and colleagues. However, when hearing in noisy places or at a distance, even the most powerful hearing aids have limitations. For this reason, we have developed state-of-the-art wireless microphones to give your hearing aids a boost. Placed on a table or clipped on to a speaker’s clothing, the microphones transmit speech clearly from wherever the conversation takes place.

Roger solutions at work

Depending on your needs and your work situation, you may need to use more than one microphone. Conference calls, boardroom meetings, and workshop presentations tend to be challenging listening environments. Roger is designed to help you cut through the distractions, so you can fully communicate, participate and contribute at work.

Small meetings

In small meetings, place one microphone on the table to hear input from all of your colleagues.

Large meetings

Multiple Roger microphones placed on the tables will do an excellent job picking up all the voices.

Meetings with presenters

Use a Roger microphone clipped on the presenter along with table microphones to hear all participants.

Workshop meetings

In stand-up meetings and workshops where people are moving around, use the pointing mode to focus on the person talking.

One-to-one

When in a noisy or crowded environment, hang a Roger microphone around your colleague’s neck or clip it on their collar.

Conference calls

Connect a microphone to your laptop, tablet or smartphone to participate and communicate in work meetings and conference calls.

"All I need to do is tap Roger and I am in. At last, I can actively participate in both meetings and the social scene at work. I couldn’t do that before I started to use Roger.”

Trish Crowther
Quality Contracts Officer

Reimbursement

Roger systems needed for work are often, partly or fully, reimbursed. Hearing care professionals offering the Roger portfolio can help you apply for reimbursement and support you in the application process. You can learn more about accommodation in the workplace and ADA’s role by visiting Cost & Coverage.