Pets at work?
The jury is out. Are they a pest or a pleasure?
At our office, we have always been very pet friendly and have just adopted our first office dog. Misty is a West Highland White Terrier who grew up in the salubrious environs of Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park. Now living in Teddington, she has been spotted commuting in to Occam HR for a Learning & Development meeting... though after the obligatory morning walk and squirrel chasing expedition, she is equally happy to curl up under a desk in our office for the duration of the day.
The relaxing nature of her presence was anticipated, but a surprising side-effect of her arrival in the office is the spontaneous burst of renewed creative energy amongst the directors of The Creativity Coach. New ideas and initiatives and even some unexpected musical composition… we’re real converts to the ‘pets at work’ fraternity!
And it looks like we’re not the only ones. An FT article cites the Los Angeles office of TBWA\Chiat\Day as a dog friendly workplace with 40-50 dogs to 850 people. They’re not the only ones to welcome pets at work and a recent survey of small businesses commissioned by animal charity the Blue Cross found that 90% of companies who allowed dogs in the workplace noticed a positive change in the working environment. Two-thirds claimed staff morale had lifted, 56% said pets had improved work relations and half even noticed a decrease in absences.
It sounds like a pet-friendly workplace is a cost-free benefit for the improvement of morale and productivity. It may also be an effective recruitment and retention tool. At the independent London technology advertising agency Fox Parrack Hirsch, one of the account management team turned down multiple opportunities at other agencies because her laborador Ruby would not have been welcomed in a new workplace. And the dynamic duo of Alicia Johnson and Hal Wolverton, Executive Creative directors of Euro RSCG, have referred to their dog as a muse and make public reference to the fact that they have turned down opportunities because of the potential impact on their dog.
The key to a successful ‘pets at work’ programme is to ensure there are effective guidelines. These are some that we would recommend:
1 The pet should have up-to-date vaccines and be in good health.
2 The employer should specify how often an employee can take the pet out for breaks.
3 Special guidelines should be considered if any employees are allergic to or fearful of the animals.
4 The pet must have good manners. (And that naturally includes knowing where and when to use the loo… so we recommend having bountiful supplies of these at the office door!).
