There is no such thing as having a home life and work life, we have a life.
Owning a pet can be a significant life enhancer. Those of us who own them, certainly recognize the benefits a pet can bring to our lives. From socializing to physical and mental health aids, pets bring so much more to our lives than just fur and purrs.
There is no such thing as having a home life and work life, we have a life. To have a happy and well-balanced life, we really can’t have a divide between the two. A happy life is a happy life, if there is unsatisfaction in either place, we are not completely happy and our discontent will eventually spill over onto the other. There are many factors that go into a happy home life, pets can play a significant role.
Work from home
Realizing this, Dovico recently offered it’s staff a three-day “fur”ternity leave. Enabling staff members the chance to work from home for three days to help ease the stress of comforting a new pet. While the opportunity to work from home is always an option for Dovico staff, this new policy ensures that new pet parents do not have to feel any stigma of taking three consecutive days to work at home.
Recently, two Dovico employees took the opportunity of working at home to take care of their new little puppy. JD who works in support and Dominique who is a UX Designer are proud pet parents of a two-month-old German Shorthaired Pointer named Django. “If we didn’t have this kind of leave, I would have had to take vacation time,” said JD when asked what he would have done had he not had the opportunity to work from home.
Bond with your new best friend
Vacation time should be used for family holidays, time away from work and the hustle and bustle of a busy life; not for comforting a new pet and the stresses that can come from that. Offering the opportunity to staff to work from home provides relief from having to plan vacation time around adopting a new pet. It also helps with productivity as a staff member doesn’t have to be utterly non-productive by taking a day off.
“In all honesty, it’s not the most productive time since you’re always checking if he’s chewing on something he shouldn’t or if he’s peeing/pooping on the floor or his bed. Then again, being on vacation would not be more productive for my work either.” said Dominique with a very honest tone when asked how much her new puppy was a distraction at home.
There can be a lot of stress when adding a new pet to our home. Having “fur” ternity leave helps ease the anxiety for those first few days of pet ownership for staff who may have no choice but to come into work because they have no vacation time left. Even if the staff is regularly allowed to work from home, they may feel pressured not to because of the stigma that may arise from saying that they have to tend to a new pet.
Companies who adopt a life balancing culture that encourages staff to grow both as a person as well as a professional enjoy the benefits of productivity both in increased engagement and less sick leave. Time at work is much more meaningful to employees who feel appreciated and understood that they can’t always leave home issues at home. Time at work should not be a retreat from the problems at home and vice-versa.
Investment of Time
A pet is an investment of time that almost always yields a much better return. Dovico understands that by investing in an employee’s comfort when they adopt a new pet, the return on happiness and satisfaction they will have in the years moving forward is well worth a few days of interrupted work.
To view more Dovico blogs on company culture, please take a look at some other posts on the culture we have here: https://timesheet.dovico.com/blog/category/company-culture/
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