Study Finds Office Dogs Improve Work Environment at Home
On ‘Take your dog to work day’, companies introduce employees to their colleagues’ four-legged friends by allowing them into the office. For some companies, dogs are a permanent fixture in the workplace and research has already shown the beneficial impact on the work experience. However, not every dog or workplace is suitable for this. New research from KU Leuven shows that dogs also have a positive impact on the work environment for home workers without sacrificing productivity. The results of the research were published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology .
Pets require a lot of attention and care, and such a commitment also applies to dog owners. That is why some owners take their faithful four-legged friend to work. “Research shows that dogs at work can have a beneficial impact on cooperation between colleagues, work performance and stress. And that it can also increase the well-being of dogs,” says postdoctoral researcher Joni Delanoeije of KU Leuven. But not every work situation or dog is equally suitable for this. That is why a new study was started to investigate whether these positive effects are also visible when the dog stays at home with its owner in the home working environment.
Positive effect without loss of productivity
For this purpose, 284 Belgian employees were interviewed daily during a period of working from home with and without a dog, both in spring and autumn. The study shows that home workers with a dog are less likely to suffer from loneliness or a lack of exercise on home working days compared to office days. And that without loss of work productivity. This is in contrast to home workers without a dog, where these disadvantages do occur on home working days. “We can conclude from this that having a dog at home counteracts the known disadvantages of working from home and promotes the well-being of employees,” says Delanoeije.
Employers also do not have to worry about possible disadvantages regarding work performance. On the contrary, dogs offer added value here. Working from home can therefore be a way to allow the positive effects of dogs for employees and to facilitate care for dogs because if owners are home more often, this also benefits the well-being of the dog.
Living environment = better mental well-being
These findings are consistent with the ‘biophilia idea’, a hypothesis that states that contact with the living environment (such as animals, nature, etc.) is good for human well-being. Think, for example, of care farms that offer help with recovery after burnout. “Little is known about the role of the living environment in our increasingly digital society. Research such as ours shows that ‘offline’ and ‘online’ environments can influence each other in a positive way, although it is necessary to not only take into account the effect on people but also to study the well-being of the animals”, concludes Delanoeije.