Top 5 Signs That Office Noise is Affecting Your Workers' Well-Being
Experiencing office noise
How do you know if it's affecting your workers' well-being?
In today’s open plan offices and co-working spaces, workers are constantly searching for a way to escape—not to avoid their workload, but to find a quiet place where they can actually get it done.
Noise pollution in the office has quickly become the biggest threat to worker productivity and company profitability. The conversations of coworkers, the hum of a copier, even the unwrapping of a candy wrapper can disrupt workers’ concentration and rev up their stress levels. And with these distractions interrupting their jobs every 11 minutes on average, it’s no wonder today’s workforce is climbing the walls in a cubicle-free zone. The Huffington Post even calculated that a company with 100 employees could lose $200,000 in lost productivity due to ambient office noise alone each year.
In this guidebook, we'll go over the top 5 signs that it's time to deliver some auditory relief to your hardworking employees.
The human mind is a complex machine, but it also has the attention span of a toddler, easily distracted by shiny objects and new sounds. According to researchers, the brain is continually stopping tasks and scanning its environment to determine if there’s something more interesting to focus on.
In addition, when unwelcome noise, such as a ringing phone, hits our auditory nerves, our brain releases excess cortisol, the “flight or fight” hormone, to the pre-frontal cortex. We’re no longer able to concentrate on a task or retain information while our brain figures out how to handle this unwanted invader. On the flip side, excess noise decreases the level of dopamine in the brain, the neurotransmitter that regulates our attention, learning and alertness.
The pitch and tone of human conversation are especially distracting to workers. When our officemates discuss last night’s football game, our brain automatically latches on to their conversation, working overtime to decipher what is being said.
1. Your employees have complained.
Yep, this is probably the most obvious sign that your office has too much noise. If your employees have already complained about the office noise, then it's crucial to fix it—not only because it is likely affecting their performance but also because not listening gives the impression that management doesn't care about their well-being.
2. You see too many faces from your desk.
In the 2000s, tech giants like Google and Facebook set up open working environments to increase collaboration and foster creativity. Other companies began following suite, and by 2014, 70% of offices had open floor layouts. However, open floor layouts can inadvertently pressure people to socialize with everyone around them, driving up office noise, which is the number one distraction in the workplace and the top killer of worker output.
3. Your employees keep moving.
Noisy offices can push your employees to move around and constantly hunt for quieter spaces. This can lead to even more lost productivity, as it takes time to settle in and regain focus again and again.
When a worker is interrupted by noise pollution, it can take up to 23 minutes for their mind to get back on track, causing them to lose on average 86 minutes of their workday.
4. Your employees ask to work remote.
Your office noise may be so bad that it drives your employees to work remote. Depending on your company's remote policy, this might not be an issue, but maintaining open and clear communication among remote employees presents its own challenges. it's crucial to set clear expectations and make sure everyone is aligned on your technologies tools—especially the communication ones
5. Headphones are the latest accessory.
Is everyone in the office sporting a pair of headphones? Employees often used headphones to try and tune out everything so they can concentrate, but listening to music with lyrics can actually detract from one's ability to concentrate. In addition, headphones can block out too much so that your office loses out on spontaneous creativity and the exchange of ideas.