In a recent article, Marketing Week predicted that workplace wellbeing will become essential for all businesses in 2018, regardless of size. There has been an increased focus on good workplace wellbeing in recent years, so to see the trend confirmed is a positive step forward to creating even better work environments for all.
Workplace wellbeing is important to us, and we’ve recently had an excellent addition to our team who has made a big improvement to the office! Read on to find out who.
What is workplace wellbeing?
Workplace wellbeing is ensuring that employees have the best possible mental and physical wellbeing at work. This could involve encouraging good nutrition in the workplace canteen, promoting or providing opportunities for exercise, allowing pets in the workplace, or adopting a flexible working approach to help employees manage other responsibilities around work.
The official Workplace Wellbeing Charter was set up in 2009 and measures employers on eight key areas: leadership, absence management, health and safety, smoking, physical activity, healthy eating, and alcohol. Companies who are successful in the audit are awarded the charter; an official mark of their success at implementing excellent employee wellbeing initiatives.
Promoting a good standard of workplace wellbeing and catering for both the mental and physical health of a team can help improve motivation and performance, strengthen teamwork, reduce sick days, and promote a better working culture. You don’t have to splash out on expensive packages or completely change up your business – there are plenty of ways to improve workplace wellbeing without breaking the budget.
Pets in the workplace
That’s right, pets have been scientifically proven to help promote better wellbeing in the workplace! 1 in 2 UK households owns a pet – that’s 8.5 million dogs and 8 million cats – and pets are guaranteed to help improve a number of key areas of wellbeing. There’s a good chance at least one member of staff owns a pet that could be brought to the office with those statistics - so why should you choose to have pets at work?
- Reduce stress. Stroking a pet has been proven to lower blood pressure and help reduce stress – a two for one on improving mental and physical health!
- Promotes exercise. Taking the dog for a quick twenty-minute walk at lunch is a great way to get motivation back and improve productivity. Staff can join in too – no need to walk solo!
- Contributes to a more positive work environment and team collaboration. Pets are great as catalysts for conversation, and often something people can bond over. A dog or cat in the office can be a great way of helping people connect and generate more positive energy between colleagues.
8% of UK businesses allow pets in the workplace, including big companies such as Mars and Google. Dogs are the most common workplace pet, but cats are growing in popularity, particularly in Japan, and cat purring is believed to help induce relaxation. What’s not to like about a pet in the office?
Formation’s workplace dog: Georgina
We got a very cute surprise when we returned from our Christmas break in the form of miniature schnauzer puppy Georgina! Owned by our managing director Martin and company administrator Eva, Georgina has become a firm favourite among the team.
Although shy at first, she’s quickly taken to running around our main open-plan office and loves to cuddle with anyone who’s free. Other than that, you can find her curled up asleep under Eva’s desk.
She may be small in size, but she’s already showing us that she’s got a big personality!
We’ve found that having Georgina in the office for a quick ‘puppy break’ is a great way to get away from the desk and enjoy a few minutes of downtime without disturbing productivity - and she provides a very cute source of motivation.
Not sure that a pet in the workplace could be right for your business? Why not take part in Bring Your Dog to Work day on 22nd June 2018 and see how your furry friend fits in at your workplace. The day is a great opportunity to see how pets could positively impact your workplace and improve wellbeing and encourages people to get involved too. Find out more: https://www.bringyourdogtoworkday.co.uk/.
For now, enjoy some of photos of Georgie fully enjoying her new role as the office dog!
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