Human Resource Blog

body odor

As a manager, how do you tell one of your employees about his/her body odor in a very tactful and caring manner?

This is one of the most difficult conversations to have with an employee. It is bound to produce some hard feelings, no matter how tactfully it is handled.

Opinions are divided on the best way to handle this. Some HR pros actually suggest leaving the employee a tactful note along the lines of *Bob, I am sure you do not realize it, but occasionally you have a body odor. If you could pay a little more attention to hygiene (i.e., showering daily, clean clothes and using deoderant) it would be appreciated by your coworkers. Thanks!* The note can be anonymous (*Signed, a friend* or *Signed, management*) or it can be signed by the supervisor or HR person. Some HR pros would consider this the cowards way out, but it results in less embarassment for the employee, which is usually the goal.

The other option is to bite the bullet and have a face-to-face conversation with the employee. The best tactic is that you are sharing comments from unnamed coworkers: *Bob, some of your coworkers have mentioned that at times you have a body odor. I need to ask you to pay more attention to personal hygiene, including a daily shower (etc.)…Can you help me with this problem?*

It is probably necessary to mention daily showering, using deoderant and wearing clean clothes daily. Not every employee will automatically be aware of these strategies.