'Care is what sets us apart’ today, and tomorrow: How Ebonie brings her best for every client

It doesn’t matter if you’re a longstanding client or a first-time walk-in; Ebonie Dickson is on hand to help. As a Customer Service Officer at our busy hearing centre in Hobart, Ebonie thrives on the challenges of her role. Since joining us in 2012, Ebonie has held numerous positions and has become a wealth of knowledge. But the biggest assets she brings? A positive outlook and a genuine desire to support and empower every single one of our clients.

It’s about what matters

Ebonie Dickson freely admits she is terrible at wearing a name badge. As the first point of call for all client queries, she’s on top of literally everything else. But the reality is, her name badge just doesn’t matter. Because our clients know Ebonie by name, and she knows theirs. And for Ebonie, that touches at the heart of everything she does at Hearing Australia - providing true care to people when they need it.

As if to emphasise this, on the day we catch up with her, Ebonie is wearing a knitted shirt with a heart stitched onto the pocket!

“I think care is why most of us come to work,” Ebonie says. “It’s knowing we can do our bit to make life a little easier for our clients. So, it’s getting to know them and understanding what they need. It’s thinking, if this were my mother or father, how would I want them to be treated? Our goal is to ensure each client is treated with dignity and that they get the most value out of our service.”

Ebonie finishes each workday knowing she’s done her utmost to deliver on that goal, and that gives her a real sense of satisfaction. 

“In this job, it really is often the little things. A client might come in stressed because they need help with their hearing device, and it’s being able to provide them with a positive outcome so they can leave happy. You feel you can go home knowing you’ve made a difference.”

Building a career to be proud of

Ebonie’s own experiences growing up have strengthened her ability to empathise and connect with clients. In early childhood, Ebonie’s twin sister suffered numerous ear infections and was diagnosed with conductive hearing loss when she was a young child.

While Ebonie had never considered working in the hearing industry, when she saw an ad for a role at Hearing Australia, it just felt right. Besides which: 

“The blurb said ‘No two days are the same’. And I thought, ‘Oh, that sounds really interesting’ - and it was! It’s also given me some new perspectives on the challenges my sister faced growing up.”

Ebonie initially joined us in our Glenorchy Hearing Centre in a front-of-house and marketing role, part of which required Ebonie to speak at events to educate people about hearing health and our solutions.

“That was scary at first, but it was also nice, being trusted to do it ... And that’s been my experience my whole time at Hearing Australia. My leaders have always trusted and supported me to get out there and give things a go.”

Ask Ebonie where she’s worked since then, and she’ll cite almost every one of our hearing centres across Tasmania! As a result, Ebonie is an invaluable source of knowledge and advice for our Tasmanian teams, and she’s built an impressive career to boot. Ebonie has been acting manager at several of our hearing centres, as well as holding front-of-house roles, training new staff, and providing clinical assistance and support regarding hearing aid tech.

“It’s been a lot of fun to get about, to see how all our different centres work and meet all of our people. Hearing Australia is great at allowing you to learn more about different roles. And I’ve found I’m given the freedom and autonomy to do my role. I just really enjoy that.”

On a journey to better

If you get Ebonie talking about the advances she’s seen in hearing technology since joining us in 2012, she becomes animated.

“The devices just keep getting smaller and smaller - it’s exciting!” she laughs. “You get a new generation come in and you go, ‘Oh my gosh, what can this one do?!’ It’s incredible just where the tech is at - its usability and how it can work with other devices. Clients can listen to music on their phone through their hearing aid, just like any other person using wearable tech can.”

For Ebonie, these advances represent how we’re going from good to better while keeping our client's needs front and centre.

“I believe the advances in tech have certainly helped with the stigma clients experience wearing hearing aids. I think that’s very cool. And It’s exciting for me to get that opportunity to get hands-on and learn more about the capability of the latest in hearing aid management.”

Ebonie has been on her own journey to better with Hearing Australia. Not only has she continually challenged herself to take on new roles at different centres, but she’s also played an active part in helping us build an organisation where everyone can thrive. Ebonie put her hand up to participate in our campaign to improve our people’s experiences at work. She’s also volunteered to be one of our Change Champions to support our teams in upgrading to a new operating system. But ultimately, Ebonie says what keeps herself and her team focused on “better” is the clients themselves. And she thinks that’s the way it should be!

“Care is what sets us apart. We get clients who’ve been with other hearing providers who come to us because of the service and support we provide. That’s because we really care as a team about creating positive outcomes for our clients.”

This content features real employees of Hearing Australia, sharing their own personal comments, views, opinions, and individual experiences of Hearing Australia.