By Daniel Morgan-Williams, Founding Director, Visualise Training and Consultancy Ltd.
A reliable member of the team starts making mistakes. Figures are wrong. Emails are missed. They seem slower, more tired, less willing to take calls or speak up in meetings. The obvious conclusion is a performance problem, and the next step looks like a capability process.
Sometimes that is right. But a lot of the time, the real problem is that someone’s sight or hearing has changed and nothing at work has changed with it. No assessment, no equipment, no adjustments. The person is doing the same job with less information, and the gap shows up as errors and slower work.
Treat that as a performance issue and you risk the wrong process, a damaged relationship and a good employee lost. Fix the adjustments first and the performance problem often disappears.
What Acas says
Acas guidance on performance problems says employers should try to understand why someone’s performance has dropped, and should do this before taking any disciplinary action. It also states that if an employee has a disability, employers must make reasonable adjustments, and that some capability issues may be resolved by making them, giving examples such as more time for written tasks, changed shift patterns or specialist equipment.
In other words, the adjustments question comes first, not as an afterthought once a formal process is under way.
Signs a performance dip may be about sight or hearing
None of these proves anything on its own, and a manager should never try to diagnose. But patterns like these are worth a conversation before anything formal:
Errors with numbers, small print or detailed documents that were not happening before. Work taking much longer, or being taken home. Avoiding the phone, video calls or speaking up in meetings. Missing messages, instructions or people saying hello. Asking people to repeat themselves, or answering a slightly different question from the one asked. Tiredness or headaches later in the day. Holding documents very close, leaning into the screen, or changing where they sit. Reluctance to move around unfamiliar areas, or to travel to new sites.
Each of these has other possible explanations. The point is not to guess, but to ask.
Telling the employer: whose job is it?
Employees have a real part to play. An employer cannot put support in place for something it does not know about, and telling a manager what is going on is what unlocks help. Where someone keeps their sight or hearing loss completely hidden and there are no signs, the duty to make adjustments generally does not apply, because it depends on what the employer knows or could reasonably be expected to know.
That second part matters. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Employment Statutory Code of Practice says an employer must do all they can reasonably be expected to do to find out if a worker has a disability. If the signs are there and a manager does not ask, “they never told us” carries much less weight.
It also helps to understand why people stay quiet. Many employees with changing sight or hearing say nothing because they are worried it will cost them their job, or because they are still coming to terms with it themselves. A manager who asks in a supportive way often gets the answer that solves the whole problem.
How to ask without accusing
Have the conversation privately and informally, before any formal step. Describe what you have noticed in neutral terms, then ask an open question. For example: “I’ve noticed a few errors in the figures recently, which isn’t like you. Is anything making the work harder than it should be at the moment?”
Do not ask “Is it your eyes?” or “Are you going deaf?” It puts the person on the spot and asks them to confirm a diagnosis you are not in a position to make. Make it clear that the aim is to sort out what would help, not to build a case. If they do mention their sight or hearing, thank them, ask what would help, and agree a next step. They do not have to give you medical details.
Whether colleagues are told anything is a separate question, and it is the employee’s choice.
What to check before going formal
Before starting a capability process, a manager should be able to answer these questions. Has anyone asked the employee whether anything is making the work harder? Has the possibility of a sight or hearing change been considered, without assuming? Has occupational health or a specialist workplace assessment been considered where appropriate? Have any adjustments already recommended actually been put in place, and has the employee had time and training to use them? Is anything still waiting, for example on Access to Work, and has anything been done in the meantime?
If the honest answer to any of these is no, the formal route is probably premature.
If a capability process has already started
It is not too late to change course. If sight or hearing comes to light part way through, pause and look at adjustments before going further. Arrange an assessment, put the recommendations in place, give the person a fair period to work with them, and then review. Make sure the process itself is accessible too: documents in a format they can read, meetings where they can hear and follow everything, and enough time to respond.
Take advice from HR, and from a legal adviser where needed, on how the process should continue in the circumstances of the case.
Why sorting the adjustments first makes sense
Capability processes take time, cause stress on both sides and often end with an experienced person leaving. Many sight and hearing adjustments are quick and inexpensive, such as better lighting, magnification or contrast settings, captions, a headset, documents sent in advance, or a change of seat. Some need specialist equipment or software, and Access to Work may help with those. Compared with recruiting and training a replacement, putting the right support in place is usually the faster and cheaper option, and it is fairer to the employee.
What this means for HR and occupational health
HR teams can build a simple check into their capability procedure: before a formal stage, has anyone asked about underlying causes, including sight and hearing, and have any recommended adjustments actually been implemented? Occupational health can help by flagging where a sensory change may be part of the picture and recommending a specialist workplace assessment, so that the adjustments are specific to the role rather than general.
Summary
When a good employee’s performance drops, ask why before going formal. Sight and hearing changes are common, often hidden, and frequently the reason behind errors, slower work and withdrawal. Employees should tell their manager what is going on, but managers also need to notice the signs and ask. Sorting the adjustments first is usually quicker, cheaper and fairer than a capability process, and it keeps experienced people in work.
This article is general information, not legal advice. What is required in any particular case depends on the circumstances.
If you or someone in your team has sight loss or hearing loss and would like expert, tailored support to stay productive and comfortable at work, visit our workplace assessments page to arrange a visual impairment or hearing loss workplace assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Can an employer start a capability process if an employee has sight or hearing loss?
Capability processes are not ruled out, but Acas guidance is that employers should first try to understand the reasons for poor performance, and where an employee is disabled they must make reasonable adjustments. Adjustments should be considered and put in place before, and during, any formal process.
What if the employee never told us about their sight or hearing?
The duty to make adjustments depends on what the employer knew or could reasonably be expected to know. If there were clear signs and nobody asked, an employer may still be expected to have found out. The EHRC Employment Code says employers must do all they can reasonably be expected to do to find out.
Should a manager ask an employee if they have a sight or hearing problem?
It is better to describe what you have noticed and ask whether anything is making work harder, rather than asking about a specific condition. That gives the employee space to explain in their own words without feeling labelled.
How can a workplace assessment help with performance concerns?
A visual impairment workplace assessment or hearing loss workplace assessment looks at the specific tasks in the role and recommends practical adjustments. That gives the employee the right tools and gives the manager a clear, fair basis for reviewing performance once they are in place.
Related resources
- Your Employee Has Had a Workplace Assessment. What Happens Next?
- Why Some Disabled Employees Stay Silent, and What It’s Costing You
- Access to Work Delays: A Three-Step Plan for Managers
Sources
- Acas, Problems with an employee’s performance
- Acas, Reasonable adjustments at work
- Equality and Human Rights Commission, Employment Statutory Code of Practice
- GOV.UK, Access to Work