Consider this before pitching a pooch-friendly workplace policy
Portrait of curious dog lying on rug in an office (Getty Images)
Visitors to the Tract 9, a technology and design startup incubator and co-working space in Toronto’s Queen West neighbourhood, are apt to be greeted by Broscoe, quite possibly one of the most ambivalent secretaries of all time. But his complacency is a good thing; after all Broscoe is Tract 9 creative director and co-founder Benjamin Gibson’s Boston Terrier-Jack Russell dog and a permanent fixture at the cavernous creative space.
The dog-friendly policy created by Gibson was a way to boost the experience for members and make the space “more creative.”
“If we’re working on projects for the agency side, we’re spending whack-loads of time in the space,” says Gibson. “It’s next to impossible to have a dog (but) at least you can bring them along for the most part and they stay quiet in confidential meetings and stuff.”
So far, the creative director and another user of the shared workspace (owner of an 11-year-old labrador-poodle cross), are the only one’s taking advantage of the policy.
Lisa Kay, president and lead consultant at Peak Performance Human Resources Corp., says that while she’s never been asked by a client to help coordinate a “pet-friendly policy” she isn’t entirely surprised by the surge in stories surrounding the practice “given the place of animals in our lives today.”
While there are no stats specific to Canada, a 2015 Society for Human Resource Management survey found eight per cent of workplaces in the U.S. allow employees to bring dogs into the workplace, up from five per cent in 2013.
“It really has evolved, people really see their pets as a part of their families,” she says. “I would imagine for dog lovers there is a therapeutic aspect to it… they’re calming and reassuring – you want employees to feel comfortable at work, to feel at home and be creative and be able to get their juices flowing.”
And scientists agree. An oft-referenced 2012 study by the Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Human-Animal Interaction, found employees who brought their dogs into work saw lower levels of stress during the workday.
“For a lot of people with dogs, they’re going to have to hire walkers and dog sitters, so there’s an expense that they’re able to save,” says Kay. “(Plus) there’s a lot of people that won’t even get a dog because they feel guilty about leaving it at home.”
But having a pet-friendly policy isn’t a fit for every company and for employees looking to be the first to bring their furry friends into work they might face a series of hurdles.
“Dealing with employees without pets tends to have a number of things you have to consider (when creating) policies… adding pets is a whole other species, so it’s a whole new equation,” she adds. “The same way you’d have a probationary period for an employee, I’d imagine you would need something similar for a pet.”
And even then, it could be a tough sell with elements to consider like employees with allergies, which employee gets to bring their pets, and how it could effect hiring and retaining talent.
“There are so many questions… you’d need to get buy-in from everybody,” says Kay.
And even then, as any pet owner can attest, you can’t truly guarantee your pet will always behave.
Gibson admits that sometimes the dogs at Tract 9 will bark and play loudly.
“When they bark it’s a bit annoying,” says Gibson. “But for the most part, Broscoe is super chill, he’s a really socialized dog – it all depends on the level of socialization of the dog.