A key step to launching a pets-at-work program is getting the approval of your company’s leadership team.

Here are topics to discuss as you work toward pet-friendly program approval.

• Expected benefits of the program for your organization – share information from our toolkit and any other data you have that shows the potential positive impact.
• Expected benefits of the program for employees – share information about anticipated impact on your employees. It also helps to show leadership the level of employee interest. You could conduct an informal survey to understand what percentage of your employees would enjoy a pet-friendly workplace program. However, be careful not to get employees’ hopes up without management buy-in.
• General benefits of spending time with pets – beyond workplace data, use sources that speak to the health and social benefits of the human-animal bond. Allowing pets at work enables people to experience these benefits for more of the day.
• Expected recruiting impact – look at the companies with whom you compete for talent, both in your local area and nationwide. How many of them have pet policies? Have any of them gotten positive PR because of a pet-friendly program? Do you think you could tout pet-friendliness to get an edge over competitors?
• Expected financial implications – while creating a pet policy that’s right for your organization will take time and research, be ready to give at least a high-level overview to your management. Include expected implications such as creating a pet relief area on your property or the need to renegotiate your lease to add pets.
• Guidelines for success – let your management team know that if they give pet-friendly program approval, you intend to follow best practices. That would include having a clear policy, training, and guidelines for pets and their owners.
• Testimonials – if you find that some of your management team members have had experience with a pet-friendly program, or are strong supporters of the idea, see if you can engage them to provide testimonials. They can help personalize how powerful having pets at work could be for your organization.

Want more tips? Check out the PETS WORK AT WORK™ Toolkit for info about how to start and maintain a successful pet-friendly workplace program.