Use of Therapy Dogs in the UK
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How can dogs help to create connection within the workplace?
10 October 2021
Based in Baildon, West Yorkshire, ACS has been providing IT, interiors and office supplies into businesses across the UK since 2008. Priding themselves on being a people first business, ACS are on a mission to ‘make a positive impact from the inside out’ by giving back to charities, the local community and the environment.
And it’s not just the two legged team members that ACS go above and beyond to look after! Here Liz Stevenson, Strategic Director at ACS explains why Frosty the office dog is welcomed by all within the workplace
Tell us a little bit about Frosty
Frosty is a two year old Cockapoo who comes into the office with his owner, Chris, on a daily basis. He is regarded as a handsome dog, not just by our team (who are admittedly a little biased!) but also the wider public as he was awarded a place on the Dogs of Yorkshire calendar for Marie Curie in 2021.
Frosty absolutely loves it in the office; he has free rein of all three floors of the office, whether that’s the sales floor or joining us in team meetings. Frosty and Chris are like a double act; if you see Chris, you can be sure that Frosty will be following…they have such a lovely bond! Frosty has many favourites around the office too though; whether it is those who keep treats on their desk or that take him out for walks throughout the day!
What was the driving force behind allowing dogs in the office?
We were well aware that a lot of our employees were dog lovers and we had heard that having a dog in the office could help with stress and anxiety. As a company we try and do as much as we can to support our employees so in October 2019, we welcomed Frosty into our office and we haven’t looked back since!
What benefits does Frosty the office dog bring to ACS?
Having Frosty in the office every day is a joy. He gives people a short distraction when they need it which helps to boost morale, lower stress levels and generally leads to a happier workforce. I know when I am having a stressful day, Frosty definitely helps to calm me down.
One of my colleagues stopped me about a year after we introduced Frosty, he wanted to tell me that Frosty was the best decision ACS had ever made. It was great to hear that people really do feel the benefit of having him in the office.
Has allowing Frosty in the office come with any challenges?
Frosty hasn’t given us any challenges to overcome since he’s been in the office. In fact, he’s been such a welcome team member that even myself and a couple of other staff members who weren’t dog lovers at all previously, have now changed our views after creating such a strong bond with Frosty. I can’t think of one negative about having Frosty in the office.
Some organisations are concerned that allowing dogs into the office could cause staff to become distracted resulting in lower productivity. What is your experience of this?
I wouldn’t say the distraction which Frosty offers is a bad thing. It allows people to take a few minutes to stop thinking about their work stresses and have a moment of calm or fun with Frosty. We think it is a good thing to encourage people to take a break from their work. Plus Frosty has so many friends that he never distracts any one person for a long time before moving on for cuddles from someone else! Frosty is also great from a customer perspective; all visitors to ACS love meeting Frosty and comment on how great he is.
Do you have any formal guidelines in place to help facilitate dogs being allowed in your office?
As we only have Frosty in the office, no we have never needed formal guidelines. We did have one day where we invited anyone to bring their dogs into the office resulting in 18 dogs coming in on the same day! That was fun and created a real buzz in the office, but it was also a little crazy! I’m not sure we could do that everyday…or we would certainly need to have more guidelines in place if that was the case!
Thanks to ACS for sharing their story!
Follow Frosty’s office adventures on Instagram @frostyintheoffice
Want to share your experience of working alongside office dogs? We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch to be considered for our next 'spotlight on' feature.
