Furry Friends In Office: Yay Or Nay?
So fur babies in your office. How does that sound? Imagine being surrounded by the naughty antics of these adorable pups, won’t that lighten your mood amid a high stress work environment.
We have made a huge shift post the start up boom. The main driving idea behind start ups is speed. The turnaround rate decides where you are standing and what steps are to be taken for scaling up the company.
The younger generation has redefined work rules and in the process has set a very high standard to match up to.
We are in a race to achieve unattainable and we do succeed in acquiring those goals. But then these targets have collateral damage on our health and well being.
Job related stress is nothing new, but we tend to burnout a lot. Slowly and steadily we slip away from the super demanding commitments that we had set for ourselves. Why do you think youngsters in the late 20s are taking more breaks in their careers than ever. It is because of this burnout which saps the energy and will to work their ass off.
Corporates have been tracking these dropout rates and bringing in various kinds of therapy sessions to help their employees combat with their high stress level jobs.
One of the most unconventional and probably most loved therapy would be the Dog Therapy.
Nestle’s Pets At Work (PAW) program is an example of how corporates are allowing their employees to get in their canine friends into the office. A well thought out authorisation process is put in place to evaluate a dog’s behaviour under the able guidance of dog specialist. Just in case you thought what if these naughty furballs run helter skelter finding a new space. This goes on to show that this is possible and not a juvenile thought.
It is a regular feature in west, but we are yet to catch up here in India, with this trend. Pune based Animal Angels foundation provides therapy sessions.
We put up a question on SHEROES FB page asking people whether they would be comfortable with the sight of wagging tails around them while they are working. And guess what? There was a resounding YES to this question.
Most of them just loved the idea of having dogs around in office. Who wouldn’t love to have these lovely creatures.
It’s a proven fact and as a dog parent I do realise that these cute creatures help in bringing down our stress levels.
Some of the interesting comments were:-
“Yes, absolutely! It's an idea that's time has come and should be followed through. Pets / dogs are always the remedy to stress or stress related health triggers. Having them around us will only do us a world of good.”--Katha Majumdar
“Yes absolutely.... I'm doing something similar to make this possible in my office” -Aranya Das
And some were skeptical of the fact that they might create distraction or the feasibility of this option.
As a dog parent this seems like the best option, but what do you think about dogs in office? Do you give it a thumbs up or is it just too complicated and bizarre? Let’s be honest not everyone is fond of having dogs around. Would you give it a try? Tell us in the comments below.
