The American Society of Interior Designers conducted a very in-depth survey of employee attitudes and satisfaction levels with various aspects of their physical workspace. If you haven’t read this paper yet, it’s well worth your time. The ASID links employees’ feelings about their work environment directly to important outcomes like retention. Here were some key findings that relate to problems our panel extenders are designed to address:

11% of workers said that privacy and quiet were very important to them. Ironically, this is the same exact percentage as those who noted that having access to coworkers was important. Obviously, there needs to be a balance between these two workplace requirements with a space for collaboration as well as concentration. However, a full 80% of respondents said that they do currently have good access to other people or departments. So, it looks like privacy and noise control are the areas that really should be improved. More than 1 out of 3 workers said they are dissatisfied with the noise level at their job and more than half are dissatisfied with the amount of privacy they have.