In a tough economy, efficient companies thrive. Unfortunately, most businesses are far less efficient than they could be, and they’re losing money every day for a “so obvious it’s invisible” reason: their workers are losing productive time every day to preventable distractions.
Plugging the leak
When companies begin to look for cost-cutting measures, their attention is usually focused on a search for major leaks. Capital investments get cut, and human resources – usually the largest single budget item – is next on the list. These are big targets, but cuts there come with a downside: you need them both in order to grow. But you do have other options. There’s a hidden leak in your revenue pipe that’s rarely visible on a balance sheet – and plugging it can save you a bundle!
If you’ve spent any time in your company’s open office area lately, you’ll notice how noisy it is. Distractions come at you from all sides: the guy on the phone four cubicles away. The girl on a personal call behind you. The impromptu meeting in the corridor. All this is in addition to the normal work-related interruptions of email and phone calls. One recent study revealed that the average cubicle worker is interrupted more than 70 times per day.
The High Cost of Distracted Workers
These distracted, unengaged workers cost you money – much more than you may know. A study by the Towers-Perrin Group found a 52% gap in one-year operating income when comparing companies with highly engaged employees versus companies whose employees have low engagement scores. High engagement companies improved 19.2% while low engagement companies declined 32.7% in operating income over the study period.
Would a 52% gap be enough to set you apart from your competition?
Sound too good to be true? We can back it up. Numerous additional studies back this up: better office privacy means a better bottom line for your business. Some further results:
According to an American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) study, workers in offices with even small acoustic treatments:
- Were 48% more focused on their work
- 51% less distracted, resulting in
- 10% fewer errors and a
- 27% decrease in worker stress
Cornell University found that workers in environments with high noise levels made 40% fewer attempts to solve difficult problems as a result of the difficulty in focusing on that problem.
And in 11 surveyed buildings, 80% of workers felt that the noise levels distracted them and hindered their ability to get their work done.
Turning Your Business Into a Well-Oiled Machine
The bottom line to all these studies is that time is money… and your company is probably losing a lot of it. This also presents an opportunity, though. You’re wondering how much money you’re losing, which means you’re already ahead of the game. Even though 80% of workers considered office noise to be a problem, 81% of their supervisors (in enclosed offices) weren’t aware. Your competition likely falls into the latter number… But this is changing.
Which is where MPS™ comes in. We’ve helped hundreds of organizations ranging from small offices, churches and individual medical clinics to Boeing, Chevron, and the US Navy. We solve privacy problems that keep organizations like yours from reaching their goals. If you’re ready to stop leaving money on the table and get a boost on your competition – even during a recession, contact us today for a no-obligation custom-engineered privacy solution, and stop leaving money on the table!
