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Employees Less Likely To Take Sick Days When Music Is Played In The Workplace

January is generally regarded as the most depressing month of the year and Monday the 18th January has been pinpointed by academics as likely to be the most depressing day of 2010. 

With the Christmas glow truly faded, New Year’s resolutions already broken, arctic  weather and credit card bills landing on doormats and the January pay-cheque still to come it’s hard for most people to be cheerful.January is also the month for truancy from work. According to consultancy firm Mercer 13 of the 20 most popular days for sickness absence occur in January – six of these are between the 2nd and 9th of January. It also seems that over a third of all sick days are taken on a Monday.

At this time of the year magazines and newspapers are full of helpful tips to help people beat the January blues. Suggestions include planning your summer holiday, exercising, getting a good night’s sleep, eating breakfast, making the effort to go out with friends and avoiding diets and other forms of self-denial.

That’s all very well but what sort of things do people actually do to cheer themselves up? A research study conducted in January 2010 by research firm Entertainment Media Research found that listening to uplifting music is the single most popular activity to counter the blues. In fact almost two thirds of people surveyed (63%) said they listen to uplifting music. One in two (47%) go to the movies or watch a film, two in five admit to eating comfort food such as chocolate and just under a third socialise more frequently. Just over one in four exercise more frequently or join a gym and the same number shop for a new outfit.

Activity

 

Incidence

Listen to uplifting music

63%

Go to the movies/ watch a film/ see a musical

47%

Eat chocolate or other mood foods

40%

Go out more often with your friends

31%

Exercise more often than normal / join a gym

28%

Buy yourself a new outfit

28%

Start a diet

23%

Go to a gig/concert

22%

Buy yourself an expensive treat

18%

Go abroad for a short break / holiday

11%

Go to a spa/get a makeover

5%

Take recreational drugs

4%

Take anti-depressants / prescription drugs

3%

None of these

9%

Other

5%

Source: Entertainment Media Research January 2010
Listening to music as a form of self-help therapy is a regular activity that most people claim is highly effective. According to the research almost nine in ten (88%) of those surveyed said they listen to uplifting music at least once a week and eight out of ten (78%) said  that music is extremely or very effective in putting them in a better mood when they’re feeling sad or miserable.

So music plays a really important role in helping people boost their spirits but what relevance or impact if any does music have in the workplace? The survey by Entertainment Media Research  found that three quarters of people who listen to music at work (76%) described the atmosphere in their workplace as happy compared to less than half (42%) of people who do not have music playing at work.

Employers, personnel and human resource departments should take note that music can help increase working productivity. In the study conducted by Entertainment Media Research, 81% of respondents said that listening to music at work makes work more enjoyable and 69% of respondents said that a workplace with music is generally a more desirable workplace.

Furthermore, there’s a marked difference in anticipated truancy rates between those people who listen to music at work and those that don’t. 59% of those people who listen to music at work said they are less likely to call in sick if not legitimately ill compared to just 32% of those without music at work.

For more information on the research conducted by Entertainment Media Research please contact Shaun Austin on 0208 240 1222.
 

 

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