Did You Know?
The American Data Entry Management Association states that excessive noise in the office place reduces productivity by as much as 40% and increases data errors by as much as 38%.
The Privacy Index or PI
The Privacy Index is a benchmarked standard by the American Society of Testing and Measuring (ASTM) for the amount of privacy from one cubicle to another. The minium target rate for the PI is 80%. Normal offices are around 40%. Cubicles add 6%, 90 NRC ceilings add 8% and Sound Masking adds 30%!
0-70 PI - No privacy at all
70-80 PI - Transitional privacy
80-94 PI - Normal privacy (where you want to be)
95-99 PI - Confidentiality\
American Society of Interior Design (ASID) Case Study
Over a three-year period, tens of thousands of people were interviewed from these participating companies:
- Blue Shield of California
- Ford Motorland Services Corporation
- Honeywell
- IBM Canada
- ATCO International
- Navy Federal Credit Union
The results were astonishing!
- 71% of workers surveyed reported that noise was the number one distraction in the open plan office workplace (followed by air quality at 20% and lighting at 9%).
- 73% of the workers surveyed reported that conversational noise was the leading cause of acoustical dissatisfaction and stress in the workplace
- 81% of workers reported that they could get more work accomplished if their workplace was quieter.
- 82% of all upper management did not feel there was a problem!
Sound Masking's Return on Investment is Almost Immediate!
With only a 5% increase in productivity, return on investment is only 2 weeks! The average expected increase of productivity is 15 to 35%.
It's Only Getting Worse
Trends are towards smaller cubicles, higher floor density of employees, and voice activated computers. Add these distractions to loud conversation, speaker phones, musical cell phones and fax machines and you have a recipe for noise distraction which leads to employee stress, overtime, and turnover.
