PERSONAL BLOGGING
WORK STRESS MANAGEMENT
"Wouldn't it be great if we can get more output from our employees without giving additional money?" Sounds too good to be true.
You can't give money to all and giving to a few causes rivalry. But it can be done. You have focused on the individual superstars for long time. But they are rare. And a solution which depends on superstars is not a good solution. Maybe you can attract and afford them. But will they stay for long?
A permanent solution exists. I will come to it in a minute. Many companies give high speed internet , cafe or comfortable space. They expect it would motivate employees to give maximum. They are essential. But most of us suffer from distractions. These distractions are from instruments and fellow workers, cellular phones, Intercoms. Conversations between coworkers and noise from printers are silent killers of productivity. Most of the offices are now open offices. They were built with good intentions: To increase teamwork & communication. But it also brought loss of privacy too. You still go to corners or head for stairs to have private conversation. With open office employees started talking problems and sharing knowledge. Teamwork increased. But there is a cost. A suffering to helping employees. They are paying with their productivity while helping. Their own productivity is going down and their stress is increasing. The conversations in office are affecting the productivity. The employees are not able to focus on work. They are getting more stressed to finish work. The work quality is going down.
The solution to these problems is changing the environment to reduce the noise. I have been saying a lot about productivity. But what is it? How do you identify Productivity? You can identify its impacts and indirectly measure productivity. As Dr. David M. Sykes mentions in his article seven most studied productivity impacts are Speed at which job is done Accuracy of job Stress Level Impact of stresses (Noise and vibration) on competence and endurance of workers over time The amount of downtime and sick time Employee turnover rate
Various attitudinal measures-workplace satisfaction, morale major environmental factors affecting workplace conditions are- ventilation, lighting, cooling and acoustics. But acoustics has received least attention by designers. Dr. Sykes also mentions that in 1972, US General Services Administration, one of the largest property owner Manager published reports on workplace environment. It tried to measure & standardize acoustic conditions. They wanted to improve working conditions for office workers. So it has been a long time the effects are being studied. What are the specific adjustments to improve working conditions to increase productivity? You don’t need to create library like dead silent atmosphere. It will create more problems than solutions.The noise affecting the productivity can be reduced 3 ways given below: A - Absorption of sound waves-Using high NRC rated (Noise Reduction Co-efficient) ceiling tiles B- Blocking-Using high STC (Sound Transmission Class) rated panel, Partitions, walls and windows C-Covering- Add a source of amorphous, low level background noise. The recommended level is 48 db or below. Don’t use music. It is information and can reduce productivity. But when it comes to Return on Investment (ROI),option C is much better if done well. So in terms of ROI you should consider C-B-A. Covering Sound masking – increasing background noise – is gaining momentum in office design. As per Jonas Braasch and Alana DeLoach researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute you can add natural sound (noise) like water flow in the office. It improves productivity. Natural sound (noises) have the ability to meet standards and criteria for speech privacy. With natural sound (noise) like flowing water increases cognitive functioning and concentration. It also improves overall worker satisfaction. You might remember a silent movie 'Pushpak' Kamal Hasan. He couldn't sleep in a different environment , a luxury Hotel. So he records sounds from his natural surroundings and sleeps peacefully in different setting. While researching for the article I came across very interesting example. Australian company Soundmask gave solution to Insurance Company. Rather than using panel and tile acoustic treatments, It installed a zone distributor. This allowed the client to “zone” different spaces, customizing the level of sound masking in each space and smoothing the overall sound quality. Blocking As per Acoustical solutions, a company specializing in noise reduction wall panels can be used to effectively reduce sound reflections on side walls and cubicles in open office floorplans. The panels need not be ugly. They can be in different colours wrapped in fabrics. Or they can be with company logos, custom artwork. Absorption Installing soft, absorptive materials helps to reduce the amount of reflective surfaces in the room thus also reducing the amount of perceived echo as well. Clouds and Baffles offer absorption on both sides.
They should be suspended from the ceiling to absorb noise in an open office environment. Plants in the workplace change room acoustics by reducing reverberation time. Plants placed in areas with hard surfaces such as hard wood floors, concrete and marble walls, will effectively absorb noises. It helps to know if you want to absorb or block. Just like sponge absorbs water but will eventually let it out slowly. On the other hand a thick big wall will block the sound.But there can be echo. What are the effects of doing all these adjustments? As per David M. Sykes, Ph.D. “Conversational distractions” decreased by 51%. The ability of office workers to focus on their tasks improved by 48%. Physical symptoms of stress were reduced by 27% Performance of standard tasks improved by 10% Are you planning to increase the productivity of all employees?.
The solution does not depend on the employees but a system.
