What do companies get from being pet-friendly?
Tech companies are more likely to have pet-friendly policies than other organisations. What do organisations actually get out of allowing employees to come to work with their pooches?
Dogs were always present in organizations- for a variety of reasons. But their role in companies is changing and diversifying, argue authors of a recent paper in Human Relations.
Companies may be creating pet-friendly workplaces and defining dog-friendly policies to redefine their roles because having these policies reflect well on the organisation- makes them more approachable. It’s often the companies where humans are least visible- the tech giants- that pave the way in creating dog-friendly workplaces. Fast Company magazine recently featured 11 famous organisations with pet-friendly policies: Google, Etsy and Amazon were on the top. Fortune created a similar rank, this time Salesforce, VMWare, Mars, Google, Autodesk, Activision Blizzard scored highly. The Silicon Valley companies are so successful, among other reasons, due to giving their employees lots of flexibility in terms of their work schedules, opening gyms, creches and canteens on the premise of the organisation and generally blurring the work-life divides. Bringing a dog to work fits right in with this image.
The article suggests that some companies may be using dogs to offset some otherwise bruising policies. The authors suggested that for instance, Amazon may be one of those places that are dog-friendly to compensate for a poor life-work balance that employees may experience.
Dog-friendly policies could have purely utilitarian value. They could help to attract the prospective employees- Millennials are the socio-demographic group that have delayed having children, but who may have dogs.
Overall, it seems that companies can gain in four different but often overlapping areas by permitting their employees to bring Fido to work:
Dog skills
Companies may simply be dog-friendly as they rely on skills of their canine employees. A good example here is the military or the police or emerging organisations which use dogs for disease detection, animal conservation or the comfort that dogs may provide in distress. Farmers relying on dogs for herding also fit in this group.
Canine symbolism
Dogs are often seen as a synonym of loyalty-think of Hachikō and his faithful wait for his master, long after the master passed away. Or closer to home- Lassie. Pet-friendly policies may aim to encourage these qualities in the employees or help to project an image of the company as endowed with these qualities. For instance, Metro bank openly aims to differentiate themselves from other banks by having a strong focus on customer care. Metro bank also has dog-friendly policies at work and can be seen supporting dog charities within the community (e.g. by helping in organising rehoming events). Their founder and chairman, Vernon Hill, also brings his Yorkshire terrier Duffy to the office- another way to drive the customer-friendly attitude.
Pet-friendly policies may also encourage informal, flat-hierarchies in the organisations, which is perhaps another reason why these policies are common in tech giants.
In the most direct manner, organisations take animals as their logos to symbolise what they stand for- think of Puma, Red Bull, Lacoste, Jaguar, Greyhound, etc.
Human–canine interactions and social capital
Some research in human-animal interactions points towards a potential physiological and impact that dogs have on people. Their presence can have a calming effect, help to work through stress and provide comfort during a stressful time. These studies are usually plagued with poor sampling techniques, nonetheless, the positive impact of dogs presence on the wellbeing of staff cannot be precluded.
Studies also show that dogs may help to develop social capital- people may be more likely to approach you for a chat when you’re with (a particular kind) of a dog. Through dogs, your networks may grow, you may gain access to places that you wouldn’t be able to access otherwise. At work, the whole office atmosphere may become warmer and things may be done more easily than without dogs.
Leader values and messages conveyed through dogs
Leaders may quite literally channel what they stand for through their dogs. Donald Trump is potentially the first American president in a while who doesn’t have a dog- dogs have historically been linked with US presidency. Past presidents communicated important messages through their dogs. President Garfield named his dog ‘Veto’. Kennedy owned Pushinka and Shannon- gifts from the leaders of the Soviet Union and Ireland, respectively.
Perception that dogs reflect their owner's personalities is used by tough lads who try to look like gangsters by having tough-looking dogs. This view played out also at the international stage. When US and Russia disagreed over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the US imposed sanctions against Russia, the Russian deputy prime minister tweeted a photo of Obama holding a fluffy poodle next to a photo of Vladimir Putin with a cheetah. Images speak louder than words, and perhaps images of dogs speak louder than some other images.
Read more:
e Cunha, M.P., Rego, A., Munro, I. (2018). Dogs in organizations. Human Relations, 1–23.
