Working like a dog

Pets in the office add a certain element of unpredictability to the working day. They can be a distraction and take up time. They might explore someone else’s desk, shed their fur, or – even worse – steal a colleague’s sandwich. They don’t care if we’re in an important meeting or whether we have deadlines to meet. On the other hand, their presence helps to relieve stress and, according to studies, they actually improve employees’ productivity, even if their owner has to take the animal out for a walk from time to time.

“A pet in the office helps workers to interact, which is very important during periods of isolation and remote working. And the walks that you periodically have to take them out on are good for the health of those usually have to sit down all day to attend to their heavy workloads,” points out Hubert Matczak, a health and safety expert at Safety Complex.

In some companies and sectors, bringing pets to work is now evidently becoming more accepted. Naturally, such firms include those that produce pet food and accessories, but also many creative industries are open to this idea – such as publishers, advertising agencies and game developers. Pets are also often welcome in coworking centres. Being able to bring the dog in says a lot about the type of work and the role an employee plays, but also depends to a lesser extent on where we work.

The tail that wags the dog

When it comes to the property management of buildings, there’s often a ban on bringing in pets in the building regulations. Despite this, it’s still possible to discuss the issue and offer reasonable arguments for changing the status quo. Even when there is no ban, it’s still worth seeking the agreement of the building’s owner or manager, since bringing in pets might require changes to the cleaning regime – such as different working hours of the cleaning staff or a different selection of cleaning products and air fresheners. Sometimes an official memorandum might even be issued actively encouraging people to bring their pets to work, as has been the case at Stocznia Cesarska in Gdańsk.

“In the Dyrekcja building as well as everywhere else in Stocznia Cesarska you’re welcome to bring your pets in and our tenants and employees are happy to do so,” claims Agnieszka Braun, the leasing manager of Stocznia Cesarska. “Pets in the office improve the working atmosphere, but not everybody likes animals and some people can’t go near them for health reasons. That’s why there are regulations for bringing in pets, both for Stocznia Cesarska and the Dyrekcja building. The most important rule is that the owner must be with their pet the entire time and they cannot be left in the common areas,” she adds.

Every dog has its day

Everyone in the office has to agree to when you can bring a pet into work, so beforehand everyone needs to be properly informed and there should be a formal or informal survey. For smaller organisations, it might be relatively easy to bring a dog into work as all that’s needed is the appropriate information and communication.

“Around 30 people work in our office in Mokotów and five dogs are regularly brought in,” reveals Konrad Dobrowolski, the client service director at B2B marketing company Clipatize. “We have a special company chat-line through which we can tell each other who’s bringing in their dog and on what day, so that there won’t be too many dogs at the same time. Not all dogs get along with each other equally well and they are not always peaceful in a group, but we can avoid tense situations by providing such information,” explains Konrad Dobrowolski.

Letting loose the dogs of war

Sometimes it might seem easier to bring bees to the office (on the roof or the terrace) than a pug or a sheepdog – and the bigger the scale an organisation has, the greater the chance is for conflict. When different companies operate in a single building (and sometimes on a single floor), matters can become even more complicated, due to the need to mark out the shared space with signs showing where pets can and cannot go. It needs to be borne in mind that many look upon bringing a pet to work as a perk offered by the company. According to research by Nestlé Purina, 68 pct of pet owners would like to come into work with their pets.

Before allowing pets into the office you need to identify all the essential factors. Formalising the process in this way resolves many of the issues involved and can prevent future problems from arising. Employers interested in such an approach need look no further than Nestlé Purina’s Pets at Work programme, which came into being in 2003 and was introduced to Poland in March 2016.

“Putting the programme into practice takes from three to six months, depending on the size of the organisation. The individual steps aren’t very complicated, but they are in place for specific reasons. So it’s important not to skip any them for the programme to be successful. At each stage, support is provided by Nestlé Purina. Pets at Work members receive all the necessary information and help they need from us to implement the scheme: from initiating a pilot programme to preparing the office for a Q&A session and other activities, depending on what’s needed. The important thing is that Pets at Work is a voluntary and free association run on a non-profit basis,” points out Katarzyna Klewenhagen, a spokesperson for Purina and the coordinator of the Pets at Work programme.

Over the last two years, 209 companies across Europe have joined Nestlé Purina’s Pets at Work association, but in Poland only 17 have so far taken full advantage of the programme.

“The number of companies that are actually interested in the scheme is much higher. There are those that have been inspired by it, but in the end decided not to adhere to the restrictive rules we recommend. We also know that others have adopted our guidelines and have independently started their own programmes,” reveals Katarzyna Klewenhagen.

It worth pointing out that not every pet feels comfortable in an office. Nestlé Purina categorically advises people not to bring in puppies and they recommend that the dog’s temperament is assessed by an animal behaviourist. Coming into work with a dog is not like putting a potted plant in an open area, even though you could argue that both are in line with the biophilic ethos.

Dog days of summer ahead of us?

How will companies change their approach to dogs in the office when people return to work? “Many firms are still working remotely or in a hybrid manner, but for many of these the priority is to prepare the future office format for the post-pandemic world. Not all companies are ready at this stage to welcome pets back for a number of reasons. We do, however, know that within our association there are companies that have already let pets back into the office,” insists Katarzyna Klewenhagen.

This gives us reason for optimism because – just as behaviourists claim – many dogs have become accustomed to their owners working at home and if they returned to the office to work for many hours this could cause them stress. It appears that schemes like Pets at Work have additional benefits and should therefore be more popular. Pets will not only make it easier for us to spend time in the office when we return to them, but they should also not feel the dislocation of suddenly being separated from their owners.