Make your pet your best co-worker

pet care
A number of research across the world have proven that pets especially dogs are man’s best friend. But have you ever wondered, how it would be if your best friend becomes your best co-worker as well? With the changing work culture across globe, offices have started to allow their employees to bring pets in office.

Carrying your pets to office not only helps in lowering the stress level but it also helps in increased morale amongst the employees, better productivity, happier employees and positive relationships amongst co-workers. According to a study, owners who brought their dogs to workplace showed decline in stress over the course of the day (Barker et al., 2012).

Few researches have claimed that becoming a pet-friendly workplace is a growing trend among employers (Weisbaum, 2013; PSI 2014), with many high-profile companies adopting these arrangements (Cole, 2014). Proponents of pet-friendly workplaces cite benefits to employers, employees, and pets from these arrangements.

There are many offices in India as well where getting your pets to workplace is a trend. Few companies, especially start-ups are encouraging their employees to bring their pets to office. This not only helps in making the workplace a stress free place but also helps in increasing the productivity of the employee.

While pets need to be ‘home-trained’ before being brought to the workplace, most pet-friendly offices have dedicated space for them. There are policies that must be incorporated to ensure that all employees are comfortable with the arrangement. Proper vaccinations, training etc are few things which the pet owners need to take care of before getting their pets to office.

According to Dr. Kallahalli Umesh, Waltham Scientific Communication Manager, Mars India, “Due to work pressure and long working hours people find it difficult to give quality time to their pets. Dogs left alone during the day appear to be affected by their owners’ absence (Rehn and Keeling, 2011) and bringing pets to work has proven to be beneficial to pets as well as pet parents.

In western countries, many organizations have a policy wherein they allow their employees to bring pets to the office. The trend has been slowly picking up in our country as well and this can prove to be a good imitative to keep the employees stress free at workplace.” Taking your pet to office not only reduces the stress level of the employees but it will also give a better life to your pet.

Generally pets spend most of the time alone at home and people are unable to take good care of them during the day. In office you can take small breaks to be with your pet and keep your stress away. This will also help the pets in having a better social life.

A survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association on 50 pet-friendly businesses in US reveled that 73% employees believed that pets created a more productive work environment, while 27% employees enjoyed a decrease in absenteeism and 73% said that interpersonal skills improved with pets in office.

Some do’s and don’ts to keep in mind while taking your pets to office:

Do’s
Make sure to check the HR policy for pets at workplace
Train your pet before bringing them to office
Bring all the supplies you need to make sure your pet is properly cared for and happy throughout the stay in office
Make sure your pet is vaccinated from time to time
Continue working like it’s a normal day, do not let your pet hamper the office work

Don’ts
Do not bring your pet if your coworkers are not comfortable with
Do not let your pet roam around your workplace off the leash and unsupervised
Do not encourage your pet to attack anyone at the workplace
Do not take frequent breaks just to be with your pet