Just about every employer would confirm the following statement: "Our employees are our greatest asset. Therefore they should be satisfied" 

But, unfortunately, this statement is not reflected in reality. Because every second employee in open-plan offices is thinking of quitting. (1)

In the following article you will learn what role noise plays at the office when it comes to increasing employee satisfaction and how phone booths already achieve this at different companies.

Why is it actually important to have satisfied employees?

Those who are satisfied with their job perform better. Motivated employees put their heart and soul into the company and contribute with their own individual ideas.   

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Harvard Business Review: (2)

• satisfied employees work 31% more productively
• satisfied employees sell 37% more
• satisfied employees work 19% more accurately

Numerous other studies, such as this one, make it clear that employee satisfaction is extremely important for the success of the company. But how can employers increase employee satisfaction? To do this, one must first take a closer look at why employees are not satisfied in the first place.

Why are employees dissatisfied?

By far the biggest killer of employee satisfaction is the lack of places for meetings and telephone calls or the fact that everything can be heared by everyone. (3) There is a feeling of constant surveillance, because you can be heard everywhere and at all times. This is especially unpleasant for introverted people. For example, if you have to make a discreet phone call and the whole department can listen in, it can be very unpleasant.

Even if you don't make any phone calls, your satisfaction drops dramatically, because of course you hear everything from your colleagues. Whether it is phone calls, meetings, or simple gossip. This noise in open-plan offices influences well-being. Well-being drops by roughly 32 percent. (4)

These constant distractions disturb the concentration. This noise makes you unproductive and perform worse. Experts estimate a loss of productivity of some 15 to 28 percent. (5)

The loss of productivity then triggers a negative downward spiral. Since one is not so productive, there are now also less successes. This lowers morale in the whole team and well-being decreases.

This is where the phone booths come in.

Employees simply go into the office pods for telephone calls, meetings and video conferences and communicate unhindered. The resulting noise is simply absorbed by the phone booth. In open-plan offices, nobody notices anything any more.  

This way the phone booths create peace and quiet at the office. There are fewer distractions and noise, which results in less stress, higher productivity, more sense of achievement and ultimately greater satisfaction and motivation.

The phone booths provide a retreat for e.g. a confidential conversation and you can concentrate unobserved and undisturbed.