Ellie and Jack
Ellie had worked for the same firm for ten years but had “decided to leave for my own good”. Why? She felt her “employers did not value my worth and I would rather be unemployed than be passed over for promotion yet again”. Ellie has not taken this decision lightly knowing it will create hardship for her and her partner. What’s the background? Ellie started to lose her hearing a few years ago, and had negotiated with her employer some protective strategies including getting the support of the then PACT officer. So what went wrong? No one had foreseen the quite separate issues of promotion – different strategies are needed for this. Notices on promotion courses passed Ellie by as her manager thought, “She has enough to be going on with right now”. Ellie herself had not fully realised a by-product of losing one’s hearing was missing out on office gossip. “Thank goodness you don’t have to listen to a load of old rubbish all day”, a colleague said, failing to realise there is always something worth picking out from the general news. Ellie has yet to learn that deaf people usually have a mole or a spy in the camp, someone who passes on information and who doesn’t edit the news. Ellie has taken a huge step in resigning, but, in the circumstances, what else could she have done?
Jack has always been deaf, but has a similar problem to Ellie in terms of promotion, although with quite different results. Jack is always being told to wait – ‘his turn will come’, but nothing ever materialises. His organisation is aware Jack is a good employee and is reluctant to lose him, and so keeps him hanging on. They even seem generous by seconding him onto different courses to improve his skills and knowledge. Jack can’t quite work out what is going on, but is reluctant to challenge his line manager in case he is seen as a troublemaker and “we all know what happens to them”. On the one hand his self-esteem is high: he had a happy deaf childhood within a loving family and is now seemingly successful at work. On the other hand, Jack is beginning to have sleepless nights and is starting to snap at people – both at home and at work- and is feeling just a little irritable and depressed. Jack is fighting an unidentifiable enemy, which is both depressing and hard work.
What could Ellie and Jack do? Even though they are both very different in terms of deaf experience, the main points apply to both. The first thing is to take things slowly but surely.
Plan a strategy and ask a friend to help you through it. Some of the time you will feel like giving up, especially if people say “You’ve been deaf for a while now, isn’t your lipreading going to improve?” as Ellie found or “You’re a good team leader, but I just can’t put you in charge of a department yet. You need more time” was Jack’s experience.
Recognise depression will be part of the picture. Depression is a symptom (not a cause) of feeling powerless. Don’t take on too many commitments outside work – the biggest commitment you have is yourself right now. Allow time to relax at home and play with the children or to pick up an old and familiar interest. Talk to your family and friends, only those you trust not to make unhelpful remarks, “Well, I’d sue them if I were you” (that comes much later once evidence has been established).
Talk to people whose job it is to support people in your position. Don’t make the mistake of thinking, “There’s a saviour out there, I just have to find her and everything will be fine” (Ellie). There is no one person who can guide you – an unpalatable truth and upsetting when you desperately need someone to advise you. Draw a circle with you inside it. Then draw lines radiating from this circle and think of as many people as you can who you identify as being able to help you. Do what any good manager does and surround yourself with a team of good people. “When I did this exercise I was amazed how many people I knew who could help me“ (Jack). “I realised I’d been relying on my partner too much, I thought having lots of people involved was attention seeking, but realised this is not the case at all”. (Ellie)
The Disability Services Team will help in practical ways – don’t be put off by time delays. Get assessed quickly and agree some time deadlines. They can advise you on appropriate equipment, which will create a more level playing field for you at work.
Work related issues are the province of your Personnel Officer. They may, or may not, be helpful to you (even though that is their job) but they are more likely to work with you if they can see what the real issues are. They can help with a career plan and can mediate with the manager on your behalf, as long as they are not asked to be confrontational.
Good personnel officers will sometimes locate a mentor or supporter for you – and this can be worth its weight in gold. Choose a mentor carefully either at work or outside and use them constructively.
Union staff are helpful as they know what can be negotiated and what cannot. They will help you through the maze of rights and responsibilities and will support you unflinchingly. They can’t, however, support you outside their known area of staff / employee relations.
You will need to locate someone who is familiar with the Disability Discrimination Act.: They can tell you how the court might define ‘reasonable adjustments’. “I asked for a palantypist for all staff meetings”, said Ellie, “and my manager just laughed – we can make do with a flipchart and pen!” “My employer is very good – there are always interpreters on the training courses”, says Jack, “but it’s everything else I miss out on like team briefings”.
Here are areas ripe for negotiation. What would Ellie, Jack and their managers see as ‘reasonable’? What ‘reasonable adjustments’ do you need to function effectively at work? If you can make a list with practical solutions, for example, “find it difficult to follow staff meetings so need to book an interpreter once a week”, put them in order of priority, and then discuss them over a period of time with your manager, confidence in your professional abilities and in your work prospects will begin to improve.
Written by Laraine Callow and Paul Redfern who have 60 years of employment between them – for RNID One in Seven supplement “Directions”, September 2000. Both Paul and Laraine have worked in a wide variety of workplaces at senior management levels and continue to advise employers and mentor deaf employees.
