Onboarding Deaf Employees – British Sign Language Guide

Published: Monday 21 October 2024 | No Comments

Grouped under: For Professionals

This resource is kindly funded by Churchill Fellow

A video for HR departments sharing some top tips for onboarding deaf employees including: 

-Where to start 

-What to do before your new deaf employee starts 

-What to do once they have started 

Where to start? 

So you have hired a deaf employee. You appreciate the value, skills and unique perspective they will bring to your team. You want to ensure their onboarding journey is as smooth as possible. So what next? 

Before they start 

If this is your first deaf employee, have a think about how you can make your workplace a welcoming and deaf-friendly environment. Some things you can think about: 

Deaf awareness training for your workplace  

A 2023 RNID survey found that 59% of people would not feel confident communicating with someone who is deaf or HOH. This rises to 84% for people interacting with a BSL user. Reasons included fear of saying or doing something inappropriate, or that they don’t know how. 

Deaf awareness training can help communication between your new employee and their colleagues. It will empower hearing employees to communicate more confidently with their new colleague. This will make your deaf employee feel more integrated into your workplace. This is especially important if your new employee will be the only deaf person in your workplace,. Research has shown that deaf people can feel isolated at work.   

Bear in mind it is also possible that you have other employees with hearing loss that you are unaware of. Some people do not disclose their hearing loss for fear it will impact their employment. 

There are many companies that offer deaf awareness training. Where possible, arrange this to be with a deaf person delivering the training. 

Making your workplace more accessible 

Consider whether you can make any changes to make your workplace more accessible.  

Some of these changes may be covered by Access to Work.  

For example: 

• For those with hearing loss, can you improve the level of background noise in the workplace? For example, keeping background music low, having carpets, soft furnishings and wall panels. 

• Does your evacuation plan also support your deaf employee’s safety? For example, do you need to get a visual smoke alarm system? 

• Is there any assistive technology you could get? 

Adapt onboarding materials 

Consider if any of your onboarding materials or staff handbooks could be adapted. For example: 

• If your new employee is a BSL user, does any written guidance need adapting to plain English? 

• If your onboarding materials includes video content, does the video have captions? 

Access budget 

If you don’t already, consider creating an access budget. This means that you have a specific budget for any access needs that come up throughout the year. This is particularly useful if you have a short notice access need, such as hiring an interpreter for an interview. 

Once in work 

Once your deaf employee has started their work with you: 

Access to Work 

If they haven’t already, encourage them to apply for Access to Work. If helpful, support them with the application process. Make sure you factor time for ATW administration into their regular working hours. 

Make meetings accessible 

Before the meeting: 

• Check if anyone needs communication support. For example, a BSL interpreter, lipspeaker, or text alternative to speech (notetaker, automated captions etc.) 

• Nominate someone to take minutes. This should not be your deaf or HOH employee as they will need to focus on following the meeting. 

• Test your technology – ideally with someone who is deaf or HOH. 

• Pick a suitable place, that is well-lit, without lots of background noise. 

• Schedule breaks. Deaf and HOH people can suffer from concentration fatigue due to the extra effort required to follow conversation. If your meeting is planned to last longer than 1 hour, schedule in breaks. 

During the meeting:

• Ensure that the meeting is set up in a way that facilitates smooth communication. For example, arrange seating in a circle, and ensure that the deaf person can see any communication support clearly. 

• When speaking, take turns and don’t overlap or speak over one another. 

• If your meeting is online, make sure your camera is on when you are speaking, to support anyone lipreading. 

• If your meeting is online, record the meeting (including interpreters and captions) and pass on for reference. 

Do check in with your new employee. Ask them if there are any further improvements that can be made to support their work.  

We hope this was a useful resource to help you can do to support a new deaf or HOH employee. If you want to know more about Access to Work and how your company can benefit, see our ‘Access to Work for HR departments’ video.