Thinking of introducing music in the workplace as a soothing influence? Music plays a subtle but surprisingly powerful role in employee wellbeing.

In the past, silence was considered golden and workplaces frowned upon employees wearing earphones tapping their feet and humming along to songs. Today however, it’s not uncommon for businesses to subscribe to commercial streaming platforms for everyone at work to be able to listen to music.

Music Has a Profound Effect on Our Mood

Music is a much bigger part of our lives than many of us are even aware of. Studies show, for example, that Australians spend at least 3.4 hours per day (that’s nearly 24 hours a week) listening to different audio pieces and this is excluding the music that they listen to in shared spaces like shopping malls or restaurants. We are after-all fortunate enough to live in times when we are able to stream or play audio almost anywhere we go.

In addition to simple enjoyment, music has a deeper connect to our emotions than we realise. For thousands of years, music has been associated with love, heart-break, joy, social bonding and even, through tribal war rhythms, intimidation. Music is known to increase levels of the well-being hormones oxytocin and dopamine and reduce those of cortisol which is associated with stress.

Music Can Improve Employee Productivity in the Workplace

According to a recent research survey by Spotify, more than 61% of workers like to listen to music while working. Even more interestingly, 91% employees perform better and an astounding 88% produce more accurate work. Music really does make us feel more positive, engaged and focused.

Music stimulates the hippocampus region of the brain that controls memory and recall. With stress-related absenteeism costing Australian employers more than $30 billion annually, it pays to use innovative tools like music to increase the efficiency of your workforce.

An increasing number of employers are now introducing music in the workplace as a means to soothe stresses, calm work anxiety and promote creativity and concentration. Employees report feeling more motivated while listening to music and consequently feeling more interested in what they are doing. Listening to music is also a shared experience that fosters better bonding and camaraderie among team members.

Encourage Music in the Workplace While Enforcing Some Guidelines

This doesn’t mean that you need to transform the office into a disco! If employees like their own music, they should be encouraged to wear headphones so they don’t disturb their colleagues who may not share the same taste in music or may dislike music being played out loud. But do be careful as wearing headphones and listening intently to music can sometimes make us appear isolated and disinterested in our surroundings and colleagues.

You also need to ensure that employees are controlling the volume of music so they can still hear a colleague call their name or listen to the ring of the phone.

Genre of music and volume play a large role in determining if the music is beneficial or proving to be a source of annoyance. If it is is too loud, it may be considered as a distraction and will impact employee well-being negatively.

If you run a restaurant or salon, running background music helps retain customers for longer and encourages them to spend more. You will need to ensure that you obtain a license for playing music to the public if necessary and there are corporate subscription to streaming platforms such as Spotify that can provide this more easily.

It’s important for employers to educate themselves on the different genres of music as they effect employee motivation and performance.

Different Beats for Different People

Classical music is known to reduce anxiety, encourage precise concentration, especially with regard to numbers.

Low-fidelity or hip-hop is known to increase focus.

Dance music increases work output.

Ambient music helps workers stay alert while doing repetitive tasks such as data entry.

ESN offers the expertise of their trained and experienced team to provide invaluable solutions to assist with your needs. Don’t hesitate to call us to discuss the challenges in your workplace and how we can help you to resolve them.

References:
https://www.murdoch.edu.au/news/articles/music-and-the-mind-how-music-can-help-you-de-stress
https://www.humanresourcesonline.net/do-you-encourage-employees-to-listen-to-music-while-working/
https://www.workforce.com/2018/10/09/listening-to-music-can-improve-workplace-productivity/