Hamilton office dog Mila has been voted employee of the month by her co-workers at GMD Consultants. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Hamilton office dog Mila has been voted employee of the month by her co-workers at GMD Consultants. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
New Zealand is on the hunt for the country’s top office dog and Hamilton consultancy firm GMD Consultants thinks it has just the candidate: 14-month-old Mila.
Mila, a Rhodesian ridgeback, belongs to GMD Consultants director Gavin Donald and has been a part of the GMD team since only June, but her co-workers have already voted her employee of the month since she single-pawedly increased attendance and overall mood.
“She makes people want to come into the office more. You walk through the door and she instantly puts a smile on your face,” planning consultant Tiara Hammond says.
“She makes sure all employees remember to take regular breaks by demanding pats and walkies. She’s also passionate about prompt mail and helps to ensure we never miss the arrival of a courier,” fellow planning consultant Alice Tiffany adds.
Donald adopted Mila from a friend who moved overseas but couldn’t take her. Due to her size, Donald hadn’t planned to bring her into the office and tried to leave her at home, inside his fenced property.
But turns out Mila is an escape artist with separation anxiety: she simply jumped the fence.
Mila is one of Tiara Hammond's favourite co-workers. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
“The first time Gavin brought her into the office, he sent us a memo the day before saying ‘I might have a small horse with me tomorrow’,” Tiffany says.
Although Mila is big enough to put her head on the desk when she is sitting down, she is really calm and everyone instantly fell in love with her.
“Mila is the emotional support pillar of the office if you will — mainly because she is tall. She has only been here for a short time, but she is definitely an integral part of the GMD whānau already,” planning consultant Josh Rush says.
Several employees describe GMD Consultants as a flexible workplace where everyone can choose between working from home or coming into the office each day.
“We realised that the flipside to being such a flexible workplace can mean we sometimes forget the magical dynamic of a shared, physical workplace. Mila helped bring that side of work back to life,” Tiffany says.
“She is definitely a big drawcard for coming into work,” Rush says.
Although Mila has been employed as head of security (according to the company’s website) and she can often be seen patrolling the office entrance and emergency exit, her favourite task is supervising lunch breaks.
There is not much that can rob her focus, except lunches and beards.
The latter comes much to the disappointment of bearded principal consultant Mark Gasquoine, who is the only employee Mila is loudly gossiping about. Reasons remain unknown, but mediation (putting dog treats in Mark’s pockets) is underway and showing promise.
The annual NZ Top Dog competition, run by Frog Recruitment, is now in its eighth year and calls for nominations in three categories: New Zealand’s Top Dog with a Job, New Zealand’s Top Home Office Dog, and New Zealand’s Top Office Dog.
Last year’s competition had 346 furry workers from Pukenui to Invercargill in the run for the top award, which was taken out by Odin, the golden labrador who is a fixture at Aria Gardens rest home in Albany Auckland.
Entries for the competition are open until August 13 at www.nztopdog.co.nz.
