Body Odour

[Liam99]

How do I tell one of my team she has BO? She is very defensive normally.

Thanks,
Liam

[Wotsits31]

This isn't a nice thing to do, I had to do it last year. As I'm female I took quite a soft approach and asked if she was ok, if she had any problems, anything she was worried about. She said no and asked why I was asking her, so I said that she looked a bit stressed and sometimes stress manifests itself in a physical, some people come out in rashes, some have BO (i.e. you!) etc.... She just came out and asked me if I thought she smelt and I said yes that maybe she didn't smell as fresh as she should and she launched a huge greenpeace attack on me, telling me that I was killing the planet by using deodorants and anti-perspirants etc.... I told her that just a bit of soap wouldn't go amiss one day and perhaps the occassional shower. I even bought her one of these new organic (not harming the planet) roll-on deodorants. I gave it to her the next day and she shoved it in her drawer (desk not knickers) and has never spoken to me since..........

Not sure if that is any help or not?

[Jugglering]

Ooops... Wotsits...and there was you being all nice and stuff too !

One of my co-workers took a (serious) dislike to me about 12 years ago and he hasn't said a civil word to me since... trouble is, I have no idea why.... (nor can anyone else find out why - he just grunts at them when they ask him).

OK, back to the problem in hand, you might simply have to tell your team member that she needs to wash more frequently - I suspect she doesn't even realise there is a problem !

[Ice.Maiden]

Very touchy subject isn't it? i think if there are a few of you working in close proximity, the best way to approach it, is to call everyone in for a meeting, pointing out that personal hygeine is paramount in an office/factory/anywhere where there's a few of you together. I'd add that if anyone feels they have a problem, or anyone has a complaint, then they should have a word in private - and hope this spurs the person in question on to doing something about it. Unfortunately, some medical problems can cause a string BO, so that needs to be ruled out as well.

[Misky]

When we had a smelly man at work (he smelled like he had old, boiled cabbage in his shoes), the Manager took him to one side and said she thought she would say something before anyone else did (as though it wasn't the talk of the place), but his deodorant and hygiene routine didn't seem to be working, and that perhaps the job (office work!) called for more. He said did she think he smelled, and she said she had noticed an odour and thought it best to catch it quickly. He left about a month later, thank goodness - he still stank. Or, at the gym I go to, the owner took a man to one side, and said "Sorry ..... You smell bad and it's not fresh sweat. I'll have to ask you to stop coming if you don't sort it out." He started to shower before he came to the gym - he was getting sweaty at work. There's a couple of ideas for you!

[lil123]

I think the way I would go about it is to say to the person that a problem has been brought to your attention and you and her need to find a solution to it. Often people who smell really bad or not aware of it themselves as they cant smell it like others can. You can try to resolve it that way. Yes it may cause offense to her but it needs to be addressed.

[helliebobs]

I'm sorry I know it's a serious question and I'd hate to have to tell anyone myself, but I am still tittering at Wotsits31's post :)

[Octavius]

I certainly don�t think you should tell someone to wash, or tell them what to do. And giving someone deodorant will equally raise the defensive hackles.

As a manager you should talk to this person individually to identify that there is an issue and that the person should take it upon themselves to address it.

I had a similar experience and had a chat with a member of my team, I asked similar questions to wotsit, about being stressed, problems at home etc, before asking if he thought he was not being paid enough to wear clean shirts and to wash/shave on a regular basis. I emphasised the business need to present a professional clean and crisp image on a daily basis, within the team but also that his career might stall if I felt I could not put him in front of clients.

He got the point and fortunately it didn�t need to go any further. But if push came to shove, over the long term I would have sacked him on the bass that he could not fulfil the role he was appointed to do within my team and the business. If it was a seriously physical/emotional issue then I would have assisted financially to help improve his quality of life to the benefit of the business. This wan't, it was just laziness and late nights.

[Jenga]

Maybe you can do it in a humourous way and come out with it that way. Taking someone aside and telling them they stink is not a good idea.

People who stink must be able to smell themselves. I don't believe you cannot smell your own sweat.

[jellykones]

my friend asked me this question about this subject a little while ago i said she write an anonymous note that way you get out of the embarassing bits and she should get the hint without you getting an earful

[sense4all]

You contact the HR departmrnt and they tell her !!! That is what they get paid for and the upside is then it is not held against you - but them. The worst thing I have ever seen done was Secret Santa buying a job lot of deo ... V. Naughty.

[Liam99]

Thanks for your thoughts - trying to keep myself sane by thinking of saying:
I think one of us isn't wearing deodorant today and it's not me.

Hands up everone who's smelling fresh today, no so fast X!

Have you tried washing under left arm as well as the right one?

This is a tough one. We have unisex toilets in work so I bough both Mens and Ladies Deodorants and left them in the toilets. If it doesn't improve I think I will have to tell her straight. Don't think there's an easy way. Thanks for your suggestions so far.