But you don’t look deaf

''Could you tilt your screen a bit? I can’t quite see your mouth,” says 33-year-old colleague Sara via Teams. Because Sara is deaf, she has to see your mouth when she’s talking with you. She joined ABN AMRO in August 2022, and works for Customer Care & Operations (CC&OPS) as a member of the Debt Services & Solutions team, where requests for debt counselling come in.

For Sara, Teams meetings are a blessing. ''Everybody looks into the camera, making it easy for me to speechread. That’s when you try to understand someone by watching their mouth and face, their body language and other non-verbal input. I also turn on automatic subtitling, but unfortunately that doesn’t always work too well. The other day, for instance, we were talking about ‘tax’ and the subtitling turned that into ‘text’. And if the system thinks a speaker is swearing, it just shows asterisks and I can’t follow what was said.’’

A colleague who knows what Sara’s talking about is Chantal, 52. She joined the bank in May 2022 and started this year at CC&OPS, in the Moneyou team that handles requests from Dutch and German clients. Chantal is deaf, too, but as she’s not so keen on Teams meetings, she preferred to be interviewed at the office in person. ''If your connection is dodgy, the quality gets really bad. And when people start to talk at the same time, the subtitles don’t work and I get lost.''

“Deafness is a spectrum”

Although Sara and Chantal share the same disability, their experiences are not the same. And that’s precisely the point, says Sara. ''What few people realise is that deafness is a spectrum. Some deaf people use sign language, some speechread, and some do both. No two situations are the same.''

Another persistent prejudice is that deaf people are stupid, Sara observes. ''Consequently, a lot of them work beneath their level and get underpaid into the bargain. ABN AMRO does do it right, though: people here are recruited through the B-Able Desk at their own level, because the bank believes in equal opportunities. And they’re paid an appropriate salary.''

B-able at ABN AMRO

There are 1.2 million people in the Netherlands with a vulnerable position in the labour market. ABN AMRO believes that all talented people should be given the opportunity to develop. That is why we create targeted opportunities for people at a distance from the labour market with our B-Able programme. All with a regular job including regular salary to promote financial independence and happiness (at work).

''The aim of B-Able is not just to recruit people with disabilities, but to retain them,” Sara explains. ''That’s why the B-Able network on intranet includes a Tips & Tricks page. It’s a place where B-Able colleagues can find help with practical issues, but also where they can learn from each other. For example, clear communication is a big help to me, as it is to colleagues with autism. So it’s good to share our experiences.’’

The right support

What Chantal wants most, though, is for the bank to invest in the right support, especially when it comes to software.

''Take Genesys, for example, a program that you use to call clients directly and record your conversations. Sounds great, but: it involves wearing a headset – a no-go for me. So I make calls with my own telephone – which is connected by Bluetooth to my implants – and I type up the conversations myself. A lot of extra work. Of course, I’ve looked at other options, but when I put forward a possible solution, I get no for an answer. And nothing happens. What I’d really love to see is us putting our heads together and looking at what’s needed.''

And it all starts with onboarding, Sara adds. ''What if, on day one, all the software you need to work properly with your disability was already installed on your laptop? What if your adapted chair was there waiting for you? How great would that be? At the moment, these things can take weeks, if not months.’’

Workplace awareness

Even though things take time, there is a real desire to be inclusive, Sara feels. She believes the pandemic was an eye-opener in this respect. ‘’When we were all forced to wear face masks, people found out how little they actually hear themselves.''

Chantal agrees: ''A lot of people who aren’t hearing-impaired came to realise that someone’s feelings are expressed not just by their eyes, but by their entire face. At the end of the day, what matters is that we all take account of each other’s needs. A little eye contact and awareness can go a long way!''