Who let the dogs in? A look at pet-friendly workplaces

Wilkin, Christa L.; Fairlie, Paul; Ezzedeen, Souha R.

doi:10.1108/ijwhm-04-2015-0021

Cited by 37 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…Here, we observed that employees who “often” and “sometimes” took their dog to work scored high on friendship acuity within the office, whereas individuals who “never” took their dog to work scored average, being significantly lower than employees in the “often” group. This supports previous studies which suggest that a perceived benefit of allowing dogs in the office is increased social interaction (39, 41, 46, 81). Since social support is related to stress, quality of life and working performance (82–84), increasing feelings of support are likely to bring a range of work-related benefits.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Taking Dogs Into the Office: A Novel Strategy for Promoting Work Engagement, Commitment and Quality of Life

Hall

Mills

2019

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Despite growing interest in “take your dog to work” days and the wellbeing benefits associated with interactions with a friendly dog (e.g., animal-assisted activities), there has been little quantification of the benefits of this. We analyzed responses to work-related (work engagement, turnover intention, work-based friendship acuity, social media use, and work-related quality of life) and dog-related (pet dog attachment and dog general health) scales from 749 employees. The predominantly female sample was comprised of 243 employees who brought their dog to work (167 = “often” brought dog to work; 76 = “sometimes” brought dog to work), the remaining 506 did not bring their dog to work. Employees who “often” took their dog to work reported higher than average work engagement on all factors (vigor, dedication, absorption, total), with significant differences reported in comparison to those who “sometimes” (vigor and total) and “never” (vigor, dedication, absorption, total) took their dog to work. Turnover intention was also significantly lower and work-based friendship acuity higher in the group of employees who “often,” compared to “never,” took their dog to work. Benefits of bringing your dog to work were also observed in terms of work-related quality of life, with higher scores on general wellbeing, home-work interface, job career-satisfaction, control at work, working conditions, and overall work quality of life in those who “often” compared to “never” take their dog to work. Employees who “never” took their dog to work reported lower use of social media during break times. We also identified factors which may be important to consider in developing dogs-in-the-workplace policies; dog-demographics including weight (i.e., size), breed-type, and training may be important to consider in defining the ideal office dog and deserve further research. Given the need to improve employee wellbeing and satisfaction to promote effective business performance and economic gain, these results have important implications for office based businesses considering allowing dogs in the workplace.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Taking Dogs Into the Office: A Novel Strategy for Promoting Work Engagement, Commitment and Quality of Life

Hall

Mills

2019

Front. Vet. Sci.

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“…For example, attending frequent and unpredictable medical appointments as part of eldercare may require different flexibility from generally more predictable childcare arrangements. Furthermore, Wilkin, Fairlie, and Ezzedeen () observe that care of pets requires time and energy and because they are frequently considered as part of the family, work‐life policies should be extended to include them. This may be of particular relevance in countries where pet ownership is common such as the USA, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Argentina (GFK, ) and especially for types of pets that require a significant time commitment from their owners.…”

Section: “Life”—capturing Contemporary Life Worldsmentioning

confidence: 99%

All of work? All of life? Reconceptualising work‐life balance for the 21st century

Kelliher

Richardson

Boiarintseva

2018

Human Res Mgmt Journal

249

201

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This paper argues that the study of work‐life balance to date has, in the main, adopted a restricted conception of both “work” and “life”, which does not take account of recent developments in life worlds, working arrangements and employment relationships. “Life” has hitherto been viewed as largely comprising caring activities for dependent children, whereas “work” has been premised largely on a traditional model of work, characterised by full‐time, permanent employment with one employer and a conventional understanding of what work involves. This means that extant research and theory only provides a partial view of the work‐life needs and experiences of the workforce. In the paper, we propose extending conceptions of both work and life to incorporate different life worlds and social groups and different working arrangements and employment relationships.

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“…One strategy for improving morale in the workplace and protecting against the potential for burnout is offering animal-assisted support programs for employees. Evidence suggests that such programs can have significant positive impacts on employee well-being, and have been associated with reductions in workplace stress and absenteeism, and improvements in employees' mood, health, productivity, job satisfaction, and work quality [25][26][27][28]. Animal-assisted support programs have been successfully offered in select work settings (e.g., office settings, manufacturing, sales) [25,26]; however, there is limited literature to-date assessing the impacts of animal-assisted support on the well-being of healthcare employees working in clinical settings [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing an animal-assisted support program for healthcare employees

Etingen

Martínez

Smith

et al. 2020

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background: Employee burnout and its associated consequences is a significant problem in the healthcare workforce. Workplace animal therapy programs offer a potential strategy for improving employee well-being; however, research on animal therapy programs for healthcare workers is lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary impact of an animal-assisted support program to improve healthcare employee well-being. Methods: In this mixed-methods pilot intervention study, we implemented an animal-assisted support program in a multidisciplinary healthcare clinic at a large VA hospital. The program included 20 sessions over 3 months, each approximately 1-h long. Real-time mood data were collected from participants immediately before and after each session. Participation rates were tracked in real time and self-reported at follow-up. Data on burnout and employee perceptions of the program were collected upon completion via a survey and semi-structured interviews. Differences in mood and burnout pre/post program participation were assessed with t-tests. Results: Participation was high; about 51% of clinic employees (n = 39) participated in any given session, averaging participation in 9/20 sessions. Mood (on a scale of 1 = worst to 5 = best mood) significantly improved from immediately before employees interacted with therapy dogs (M = 2.9) to immediately after (M = 4.5) (p = 0.000). Employees reported significantly lower levels of patient-related burnout (e.g., how much exhaustion at work relates to interaction with patients) after (M = 18.0 vs. before, M = 40.0) participating (p = 0.002). Qualitative findings suggested that employees were highly satisfied with the program, noticed an improved clinic atmosphere, and experienced a reduction in stress and boost in mood. Conclusions: Establishing an animal-assisted support program for employees in a busy healthcare clinic is feasible and acceptable. Our pilot data suggest that animal-assisted programs could be a means to boost mood and decrease facets of burnout among healthcare employees.

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Who let the dogs in? A look at pet-friendly workplaces

Cited by 37 publications

References 17 publications

Taking Dogs Into the Office: A Novel Strategy for Promoting Work Engagement, Commitment and Quality of Life

Taking Dogs Into the Office: A Novel Strategy for Promoting Work Engagement, Commitment and Quality of Life

All of work? All of life? Reconceptualising work‐life balance for the 21st century

Developing an animal-assisted support program for healthcare employees

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