I’m sure the thought has crossed your mind, as it has mine, wouldn’t you just be happier if you could take your dog to work with you? You wouldn’t need to worry about them, you wouldn’t have to leave as late as possible and rush home as soon as possible to limit the time they are left alone, because they would be right there by your side the whole day. Fantastic.
This is an area where the UK falls a little behind the times. These days, for a lot of people, their dogs are just as important as children, particularly for those who don’t have children. A number of companies in the US have acknowledged this and one in five US based businesses allow pets into the workplace.
More info: modular-systems.co.uk
Replacements LTD
Replacements LTD has been a dog-friendly environment for years, and have been covered in the media consistently since 2003 as a result of this. They are one of the leaders when it comes to a relaxed, social and enjoyable working environment, and have featured in a selection of articles about dogs in the workplace. Replacements LTD is somewhat unique as a pet friendly workplace, while most limit the pets that can come to work to dogs, Replacements welcome any pet; a spokesperson for the company stated that on an average day there would be 20-30 dogs in the building, usually in crates or behind baby gates in cubicles, as well as the occasional cat or even rabbit or ferret. The company further stated that although they deal in fragile china, crystal and silver every day there has never been any damage caused by a pet; while people have broken things a dog never has. And thanks to their strict rules and pet committee to monitor the situation there has never been a single problem with the pets in the workplace.
It isn’t too surprising that an innovative, industry giant like Google would be one of the many who have figured out that they can benefit from becoming a pet friendly workplace. Google is one of the companies that prefer dogs in the office over some other animals, explaining that while they have nothing against cats they are more of a dog company and feel that as a result cats would become stressed by the environment. Of course, as you would expect there are limitations in place to ensure that everyone gets the best possible experience from the agreement; pets have to be housetrained, properly cared for, must not cause a distraction for other employees and of course must be kept on a lead or in a crate at all times unless enclosed with a door or baby gate – perfectly reasonable really. Of course, being Google they take it one step further, not only do the company allow you to bring dogs to work, but they don’t use lawn mowers either, instead they rent a herd of goats and borrow the time of a herder and a border collie in order to trim the grass in a more natural and enjoyable way.
Oscar Health
New York is home to plenty of Pomeranians without a doubt, but perhaps none that are quite so well connected as Tommy. Tommy started out with Tumblr, then Vimeo, BarkBox, xAd, it’s not surprising that Tommy has built up a following around the world. He blogs on the Oscar website, has his own blog, and joins his owner Mackenzie Kosut in her position of Technical Operations Lead. Naturally of course his work keeps him pretty busy, so we could doubt how much he actually sees his owner while they’re at work. It could be said that it is thanks to the canine’s fame that he is a welcome addition to the office, whatever the reason it is regularly stated by more than one of the employees at Oscar Health that Tommy helps to cheer them up, motivate them and of course amuse them. It’s a pretty touch life for such a little dog.
P&G Pet Care
It isn’t really any surprise that pet supplies companies would offer some of the most pet friendly working environments, so it isn’t really any surprise that P&G Pet Care, the company behind Iams, offer a particularly dog friendly workplace. The company not only allows employees to bring their dogs to work every day, but also employs dogs. Probably not in the way you’re thinking – rather they have one dog who acts as the V.P of canine communications; it’s such an important position within the company that with a year to go before the previous V.P, Euka, was set to retire she had to start training her successor, Paul Griffin, to take over the role. As you would expect the rules remain in place here just as strict as anywhere else in order to ensure that the working environment remains effective and the dogs remain happy and healthy. The V.P is there to evaluate the potential of each office dog, in order to make sure they are friendly and well-mannered enough to spend time in a busy working environment.
Zynga
Zynga is my personal favourite; they don’t just encourage owners to bring their dogs to work, it’s practically an obligation. Unlike some of the other examples given dogs aren’t just a part of the Zynga experience that exist in the background, they get their own perks and places to chill out just like the employees do. There are designated areas for letting your pets run around and socialise, break-rooms that feature dog beds, one of the buildings at Zynga HQ is even called the Dog House. With this relaxed attitude towards pets, and arguable even work, you have to wonder how Zynga actually make it work. Well – for starters only the best behaved pets get to come in every day, for most of the dogs it’s more of an occasional treat with certain days set aside for bringing your dog into work. This has been shown to work well, with more people eager to work for the company thanks to their advertising it as a year round bring your dog to work day, as well as encouraging pet-owners to work longer, socialise with colleagues easier.
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