That is Not the Smell of Success

Spend 40 hours a week with the same people and inevitably you'll discover some habits that grate on your nerves. But what happens when those habits are repulsive?

Personal hygiene is one of those issues-be it a need for a shower or wearing too much cologne-that is deeply personal, and when someone's lack of hygiene becomes disruptive in an office, it requires a subtle touch to ensure the employee is not made to feel like the ugly-and smelly-duckling.

They need to walk out of the room feeling the reason you told them is you care about them and so do their colleagues, says Connie Roy-Czyzowski, vice president of human resources for Northeast Delta Dental in Concord. You don't leave the Ban deodorant on the desk. (Nor this article.)

Czyzowski's warning against a deodorant drop may seem obvious, but employment lawyer Jim Reidy of Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green P.A. in Manchester has heard such stories, be it a delivery of soap or hanging a car freshener in the offender's cubicle.

Those tangible hints are cruel. The Internet also offers coworkers opportunities to take inappropriate action. One particular site, www.annoyingcoworker.com, allows people to post their colleague's annoying habits, rate those habits and send an anonymous e-mail to them. The site has 79 pages of listings, with people wearing too much cologne among the major gripes.

But don't take that road either. Instead, managers and human resources professionals need to work together to ensure a coworker's concerns are addressed quickly and the employee at issue maintains his or her self-esteem.

Do your research.
Before approaching the employee, make your own observations about the situation and get independent verification from someone in the human resources department, says Jim Kimberly of Sapphire Consulting, a management-consulting firm in Amherst. You don't want to be solo out there, he says, adding that the HR manager will know if there are medical or other related issues.

Have someone the employee is comfortable with discuss the issue.
While it is a manager's job to address the issue, both Kimberly and Czyzowski say it is best for the person to be approached by someone they are comfortable with. In some cases, if a friendly colleague raised the issue, it may be appropriate to ask that person to address it. Still, it is the manager's job to follow up.

It is a personal issue, so treat it that way.
Managers must take ownership of the situation by saying, I noticed this and I think it is a problem. Do not say coworkers noticed the problem, as it leads to the he said, she said question of who said it, Kimberly says.

Use employee handbooks and HR policies to back your case. Personal hygiene is just that, personal, but that doesn't mean you should tell the employee what to do. Instead, refer to company policies about professional dress and appearance, Reidy says. Stressing how certain actions affect customers is also important, Kimberly says.

Deal with it earlier rather than later.
Usually you know in an office if someone has an overpowering smell, either good or bad, Czyzowski says. I think it's really respecting all people you work with to take action quickly. Your effectiveness as a manager will shine through if you take action quickly.

Don't make any assumptions.
There are many reasons for personal hygiene issues, and making assumptions about the cause can lead to legal problems, Reidy says. Legal issues commonly arise when it is assumed an employee has a disability that causes the odor and is treated as such, and are thus offended. If you are malodorous, you are not a protected class, he says. Where it becomes a legal issue is if they are actually disabled or perceived as being disabled.

It all comes down to respect, say both Kimberly and Czyzowski. While Kimberly admits addressing the issue is nerve wracking, he says the end result can be positive. In a situation he addressed, the employee was at first hurt because she didn't think it was a problem. But it got better and we moved on, he says. Czyzowski says an employee once thanked her for raising the issue. By respecting all employees, managers create a healthy work environment that can deal with this and other difficult issues.