The Secret HR Director: Breaching body odor

A recent HR news story informed us that telling colleagues they smell being the toughest workplace conversation. Wisely, the guidance from an HRD was to show empathy and put yourself in the malodorous colleague’s position.  

Sadly, a sensitive and direct conversation rarely happens. One HR manager that worked for me decided that, when faced with a similar situation, she would use her initiative and just sprayed deodorant around when the person came near. It didn’t work. 

Body odour is a fairly familiar awkward conversation, but there are many other situations where diplomacy is needed before the issues escalate. In an increasingly litigious world, that escalation is not needed, especially when you have an employee shouting at you that their human rights are being breached by their desk companion eating nuts within a six foot radius. 

How much of a nanny state would prevent these altercations? The eating at the desk scenario – with the pressure at work and deadlines and productivity targets, if you tell someone to stop eating their eight slices of peanut butter toast at their desk before you throttle them, will they say that they’ve got so much to do that they can’t leave for a break? Is it draconian to suggest that having the whole family tree in photographs stuck on the wall and around their computer makes you want to draw a beard and glasses on all of them – and isn’t that professional?