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Give Them Puppies, and Your Employees Will Work Like Dogs

Posted on Jul 7th 2022

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Give Them Puppies, and Your Employees Will Work Like Dogs

Imagine this: you’re in the office, working away. It’s almost lunch time, but the miles of work you have ahead of you make a break seem far away and futile. Your stomach rumbles. Another email pings into your inbox.

As you get hungrier, your stress levels increase. You glance at the photo of your dog beside the computer screen and imagine her taking a nap on the couch. You wish you could be taking a nap on the couch. As you daydream about cuddling with your dog, that new email waits on the screen in front of you. When the screen turns black, you realize you’ve been zoned out for… a while. Shoot.

What if there was a way to keep employees engaged at work, while encouraging better working habits and creating an improved workplace culture? Good news! There is! (Hint: the solution is tiny, adorable, and very soft!)

Stress and anxiety relief is proven to increase productivity.

So, your workers are stressed out and struggling to stay focused. The struggle to stay engaged decreases employee productivity, and then feeling behind at work causes even more stress. It’s a vicious cycle, but an unsurprising one: reports have found that the United States has the most stressed-out workers in the world.

This reported stress is not just an inability to leave personal drama outside of the workplace, but actually coming FROM the workplace. A whopping 83 percent of U.S. workers say they suffer with job-related stress and at least a quarter of them agree that their job is the primary stressor. Here’s where I want you to really listen if you employ people: over half of all workers do not feel engaged at work because of stress.

Now read that again: At any given moment, OVER HALF of your employees are too stressed to feel engaged in their work. This means that a HUGE chunk of valuable, billable time is being spent simply trying to overcome the mental block stress presents workers. That is a gigantic loss in productivity!

But it gets more insidious even than that! Worst of all – many workers know they’re not being as productive as they want to be, and become even MORE stressed by that. So, it becomes a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle: stress reduces productivity, which causes additional stress, which reduces productivity and so on. It’s a lose-lose. What if you could stop the cycle?

What if you could stop the cycle, while simultaneously refreshing your hardworking employees with a soothing break they desperately need and deserve? While it may at first seem counterintuitive to encourage employees to stop and take a break, the facts are that we all do better work when our minds are at ease. Mental health IS physical health. Prioritizing the health and well-being of workers will only lead to more capable people who are more than happy to get their jobs done.

The happier and more relaxed people are, the easier their regular tasks become, and the more energy they have to focus on improving and maximizing productivity. A business is only as strong as their employees’ motivation and morale. Investing in something dedicated to improving employee experience is a win-win win-win. Here’s how we do it all: refresh and soothe employees while, at the same time, making them glad to be at work.

Throw them a Puppy Love Party!

Dogs are proven to relieve stress and anxiety.

The proof is in the pudding! Or in this case, the evidence is in your blood. Just petting a dog lowers cortisol in the body and increases oxytocin. For those in need of a translation: cortisol is a stress hormone, and oxytocin is “the love hormone.” So, in other words, the simple pleasure of petting a dog literally chemically soothes you.

Still skeptical? Give this one a think:

Researchers with the University of Saskatchewan studied the effects of therapy dog interventions in Emergency Room patients. In addition to reducing anxiety and depression, a mere 10-minute visit with a therapy dog resulted in clinically significant changes in pain. If laughter is the best medicine, then laughing at puppies is like remembering to take your vitamins with your medicine. It not only cures what ails you but replenishes your body.

Adopting a workplace culture that allows for puppy experiences comes with a whole host of bonus benefits.

Back to our hypothetical: after restarting your computer and turning the photo of your dog around, your eyes return to your screen and… immediately glaze over.

Thoughts of all the tasks you have left to get done before leaving work that day race through your mind. Then, Paula from down the hall pokes her head in. “Hey there, you coming to the Puppy Experience?”

“Of course!” you say, surprised and delighted.

At the Puppy Love experience, Paula meets and falls in love with a little furball named Peanut. When it’s time to get back to work, Paula knows she can’t go on without Peanut in her life. She chats with the Puppy Love Party representatives and learns that Peanut is looking for a family.

When you return to your office to finish out the afternoon, you know what has to get done and, instead of feeling stressed about doing it, you feel ready.

A lady in a black dress holding a bown puppy.

A week later, Paula pokes her head in your office again and invites you to get lunch. She showers you in pictures of Peanut and regales you with stories of her new pup’s hilarious antics. Maybe you even plan a playdate for Peanut and your own dog!

Research shows that 90% of employees in pet-friendly workplaces feel highly connected to their company’s mission, are fully engaged with their work, and are willing to recommend their employer to others. When employees feel connected and engaged, they will remain more loyal to the company. Employee retention rockets.

A simple demonstration of care for employees can truly go so far. Puppy Love experiences are a huge mood-booster, and offer a hub of connection. Not only will you increase productivity by keeping people better engaged, but you’ll help them feel like they belong with the company by encouraging social interaction with peers.

Try a Puppy Love experience and see for yourself all the perks your business has to gain. A solid workplace culture is the first step in building a community around a business. It takes a village to thrive! Starting with a base of loyal employees is the foundation of massive success.

Want to make your business a pet-friendly workplace? Call 925-269—PAWS (7297) or reach out to Puppy Love @ [email protected] today to learn more.