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Hyderabad startup hires golden retriever as chief happiness officer: ‘He doesn’t code, just steals hearts’
A Hyderabad startup, Harvesting Robotics, introduced Denver, a golden retriever, as Chief Happiness Officer.
A Hyderabad-based startup has gone viral for deciding to make its officer a little more paw-sitive by hiring a golden retriever named Denver as its Chief Happiness Officer (CHO). Rahul Arepaka, co-founder of Harvesting Robotics, introduced the internet to their new team member through a LinkedIn post that quickly captured hearts.
“Meet our newest hire, Denver – Chief Happiness Officer,” the post read. “He doesn’t code. He doesn’t care. He just shows up, steals hearts, and keeps the energy up. Also, we’re officially pet-friendly now. Best decision. BTW: He’s got the best perks in the company."
Arepaka, whose company Harvesting Robotics develops laser-weeding technology to help farmers grow more sustainably, said bringing Denver into the office and making their office officially pet-friendly were "the best decisions we've made."
Check out the post here:
The co-founder's post on LinkedIn earned thousands of likes and even more hearts, as the comments were flooded with love and support for Denver and his new role.
"CHO seems exhausted with the responsibility of making everyone happy," joked one user, while another wrote, "4 paws, 0 stress & 100% tail-wagging positivity! Superb initiative."
Many social media users called on other companies to bring in similar CHOs. "We need more of CHOs - Global mandate and possibly perfect RTO vision," remarked one of them.
"I wouldn't have left my seat, wouldn't have let him leave mine for sure," joked another.
Recently, pet-friendly offices have become increasingly common, with more companies trying to include them to prioritise employee well-being, stress reduction and improved morale. Amazon, Google, and Zappos are some companies who for long been allowing pets at work as studies show that the presence of animals can reduce stress, encourage social interactions and boost productivity.
According to research from the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), 87% of employees in pet-friendly workplaces are more likely to stay with their company and 91% feel more engaged with their work.
