By
Ellie Garnett
June 21, 2017
Ours are so important they’re even on the Gaffer’s official HR180 photo! So why have Office Dogs? Our HR Partner, Ellie Garnett, looks at why our four-legged friends are part of the HR180 team and what other SME businesses can learn from our experiences.
I have been on the phone many times when one of our office doggies has decided to voice their opinion on something (that is ‘barking’ in the world of normal people). The person on the other end of the phone has exclaimed…”Is that a dog!?”
“Yes!”, comes my dulcet tones – and, after all, why ever not? Actually, there are beneficial reasons to have our four-legged fury friends in the office.
Apparently, it can make employees more productive! Most of us spend far too much time sitting and having dogs around reminds the HR180 team to get up and go for a walk (we could even take the dog along), meaning when we get back to our desks we feel refreshed and more able to concentrate – therefore more productive.
Dogs are a great stress reliever (providing you are not scared, or allergic). They have a calming impact on the HR180 9-5.30 day.
We can bond more with our colleagues: dogs in the office provide us with a talking point, and interaction amongst the team. They inspired us to complete a team sponsored walk at our local stately home, with the dogs in tow (or the other way round!?) in 2016, raising enough money to pay for one dog for every HR180 member of staff to be looked after by Dogs Trust for one day.
Employers do need to carefully consider allowing pups in the office as it could invalidate a company liability insurance…I would say this is the only ruff (haha) side to having a pooch in place.
And for those of you who don’t know, the office dogs are Jasper (Chief Morale Officer) and Pru (Senior Nap Time Co-ordinator). Read more about them on our team page!
Talk to the HR180 superheroes for more ideas on stress relief to help your workforce become more productive – for a free assessment please do give us a call or get in touch – details below.
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