Optimizing Team Dynamics Through Pet-Friendly Work Environments
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Anyone who studies work environments understands how important it is to attract, engage, retain, and create communities of employees. Why? Billions of dollars are wasted every year on employee attrition – latest estimates by SHRM indicate that it costs between 50-120k/employee to find and train a new employee once just one person leaves! So in a joint project with HABRI, we wanted to explore the role that pets play with employees. It should be noted that we had no real expectations – other than we could show that pet friendly work environments contributed to happier, healthier employees. What we discovered was way beyond that.
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Optimizing Team Dynamics Through Pet-Friendly Work Environments
- 5. • •
- 7. Brings me joy Comforts me Enhances my mental health
- 9. Total (n=2002) Pet Friendly PLUS (n=163) (A) Pet Friendly (n=95) (B) Pet Supportive (n=711) (C) Not Pet Friendly (n=1033) (D)
- 13. ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
- 23. Total (n=999) Millennial (A) (n=348) Gen X (B) (n=463) Boomer (C) (n=188)
- 25. working from home do not work from home
Editor's Notes
- Thank you, Dr Reck. Both these presentations have been really interesting about how to recognize and improve team dynamics and culture in the workplace – both veterinary practices and other types of organizations. My name is Dr Kerry O’Hara. I sit on the Leadership Team at Nationwide Pet, and I lead the research, data, and strategy team there. Anyone who studies work environments understands how important it is to attract, engage, retain, and create communities of employees. Why? Billions of dollars are wasted every year on employee attrition – latest estimates by SHRM indicate that it costs between 50-120k/employee to find and train a new employee once just one person leaves! So in a joint project with HABRI, we wanted to explore the role that pets play with employees. It should be noted that we had no real expectations – other than we could show that pet friendly work environments contributed to happier, healthier employees. What we discovered was way beyond that. With that, let’s begin…
- First, I want to review some of the parameters of this study and then go into some definitions that will be important later. We’re not going to have time to do a deep dive on any of this stuff, so if you have questions please email me.
- 75% of FTEs have pets – about 10% higher than APPA states the national average is 40% of organizations allow pets in the workplace – at least at some point
- Now we arrive at some newer constructs. It should be noted that these are definitions that we created as a mechanism to analyze results of this particular study. These definitions are not necessarily how an organizational psychologist, an HR administrator, or even you might choose to define them. When starting this process, we envisioned work environments on a continuum of pet friendliness. In other words, while some may conceptualize pet friendly work environments from a singular characteristic (either yes or no), we imagine that there are many characteristics that go into what makes an employee think their organization is either pet friendly or not.
- Most of our thinking is done through established frameworks in our minds – stereotypes that help us make quick judgements based on our experience and history. It is estimated that 85% is through this heuristic thinking (System 1 thinking). Traditional research forces people to make judgments based on the other type of thinking – where you are weighing options and making decisions. This method doesn’t often reflect how people think or feel, so decades ago – social and cognitive psychologists developed mechanisms to test “truer” thoughts and feelings. This research uses one of those methods.
- First we wanted to validate our sample by asking some questions the field has investigated for the past couple of decades: the link between pet ownership and overall human health.
- Pet Friendly Plus self-report statistically more favorable mental and physical health than any other type of office environment. BUT – any type of pet-forward office environment self report healthier mental and physical wellness than office environments that are not pet friendly.
- Why is looking at this important? There is decades of research studying why people leave or stay organizations because the financial cost of attrition is so high. SHRM estimates that the cost to hire and train a replacement can cost an organization anywhere between 6-9 months of their salary – which adds up significantly. But there is a human cost of attrition that can negatively impact the work environment as well – and multiple people leaving at the same time can be disastrous for an organization. Much research points to two main contributors of ITL: the relationship of the person to their supervisor and their relationships with colleagues inside the organization. Basically, people want meaningful social support networks to mitigate against stressful environments.
- One of the reasons we conducted this study was to gain an understanding of how pet owners differ in their attitudes and behaviors than non pet-owners. Circles represent the degree of overlap that an employee self-reports between themselves and the person/pet along the left. Pet owners and non pet owners share similar attitudes to the people they have at home, but we start to see differences when it comes to people in the work environment. People who have pets report statistically closer relationship between themselves and their co-workers, and more significantly, their boss/supervisor.
- These trends become even more provocative when we look at the type of work environment (remind them of definitions on the next slide).
- Let’s quickly remind ourselves of what types of organizations we studied.
- …and when pets are allowed in the office, the relationship seems to be deeper – people are more socially connected to each other
- All employees – regardless of pet ownership status
- Just offering PHI has significant lifts to employee perception of their employer
- Even stronger among pet owners
- Shifting gears a little, many organizations are starting to take an interest in Millennials and how their perceptions of the workplace are similar and different than other generations. Understanding their view of the workplace will be very important as this generation begins to take leadership roles.
- One of the questions I am asked is: what is the tipping point to allowing pets in the workplace to enjoy all the benefits we have reviewed today? The answer: less than you would think! When pets are allowed in organizations, most of the time it is not every day. We have created a task force that will provide best practice guielines to implement Pets in the Workplace – due out in a few months. Also – realize that many of the benefits can be achieved just by including pet-supportive add-ins like PHI or sitting services.
- At Nationwide, we know that pets add to our lives – our organization was founded in 1982 to help allay voluntary euthanasia amongst pet owners. And there are many in this room and throughout the country that have demonstrated the positive effects that pets have on our lives. This study contributes to an already impressive body of work on the subject. Specifically….