This is who was at my client meeting last week. Isn’t he adorable?
This boy lives in dog heaven. He spends all day at a pet food factory being fussed over by everyone that works there.
When he meets dogs at the park and they ask him about his life, they will never believe him.
It got me thinking about work environments.
If you have spent any time with me or had me work closely with you, you will know that I go on about work environment compatibility quite a lot.
The secret to good work is to place everyone in an environment that is compatible with their personality. it’s pretty simple when you say it out loud, however, everyone struggles with this for some reason.
The other point I make a lot is that where people cannot really be changed, work environments can be. In fact, work environments are really easy to change.
However, for some reason, the whole world is sticking with the old “you need to change to be what I want” approach to staffing and management.
Having a dog wander about the building really changes the environment. Everyone’s mood immediately changes. I was meeting with a room full of HR professionals with the aim of converting them into customers. It’s a big meeting and big meetings can be tense. But it’s very difficult to be tense when there is a lovely, lovely, dog in the room.
He made people happy for no reason. He made everyone relax and smile spontaneously throughout our long meeting.
I am still processing what a dog in the building says about the company but it has to be good. This dog created an atmosphere that makes people say “I would love to work there”. So it’s no surprise that this organisation has no difficulty in attracting candidates.
You may have a very different take on this and I would love to hear what your thoughts are on the subject of dogs in the office.
What do you think of companies that have lovely, friendly, dogs quietly going about giving out love vibes?
Hi Martin,
Nice idea for sure.
But Health & Safety and public liability might have other ideas.
It is not for me I am afraid. I would rather support a dog charity each year.
I love dogs! But I’m not sure they belong in the workplace:
1. Many people are allergic to dogs.
2. Many people are afraid of dogs.
3. Dogs can be injured in non-office locations. (Forklifts buzzing around warehouses and lorries backing up might not be dog-friendly.)
4. Who cleans up after the dog?
5. If we have an office dog, can I bring my dog? If the dogs don’t get along, why does my dog get exiled?
The list goes on and on….
It might be more lovely if the company had special pet days or sponsored days at the local animal shelter…
Couldn’t agree with you more.
While I accept that some people are allergic to/frightened by dogs, having a living creature in a work environment tends to lift and improve the general atmosphere. People who genuinely care about their animals are usually easier to get along with and more open-minded about many things.