Smelly Co-worker?

Question

I work in a general office environment with cubical walls. However one of the coworkers near me smells all the time. How do you tactfully tell a co-worker that they need to shower more regularly?

Many many thanks.

Answer 1

If you are close to the person it would be okay to say something. I suggest taking the person aside and say that you don't want him/her to be embarrassed or talked about by other co-workers but that you have noticed that they have a body odor problem. Reassure the person you haven't heard any talk or anything but that since your cubicles are so close together you are the only one who's noticed.

Keep in mind that some people have medical conditions that cause offensive body oder so be ready to be compassionate and offer to help if there is anything you can do.

If you don't know the person well, try to find someone who does and say something to that person and ask if that person is willing to say something.

The other thing you might consider is to ask the person's supervisor to say something.

This is really a no win situation, but you are doing the person a favor by gently and tactfully saying something.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Well, just pass by them and say "Hey, wanna try my new spray, it smells really good..here" and spray 'em-lol. Or a better idea get a group of co-workers together with you on this kind of like an intervention, and just tell him you want to discuss something important....but it's not to offend him; but it's because you care about him, and how the company maintains it's professionalism...and then tell him about how every time he is around, somehow there's a smell that arises, and you don;t want to point fingers, but you all have concluded that it's him. Tell him you don't want to piss him off, but you are just being a good co-worker, helping him change a bad habit, so things won't escalate etc.

Answer 3

There is no tactful way...I'm sorry. You could only try to drop some hints like "do you smell that?", or "What's that bad smell." If worse comes to worse you could leave a deodorant stick on his desk. He may be temporarily offended, but will probably get the message.

I work in a hospital and have regular contact with a case-worker woman whose feet smell awlful, and a resident doctor who's breath is the worst I've ever smelled....It's a pain in the butt..

Answer 4

I once kept commenting, while at the Thanksgiving dinner table with my large extended family, that something smelled horrible. Because we had a dog that occasionally did her business on the dining room rug (she WAS housebroken), I repeatedly looked under the table and wondered aloud if the dog had pooped under the table. Finally, my sister elbowed me and told me that my brother had taken off his shoes and it was his feet that smelled bad. My point to this? Well, you can either make "innocent" comments that something smells funny, without obviously referring to your co-worker, and hope that they take the hint before someone figures out that it is them who smells. Or, you tell a supervisor about the problem discreetly and they can hopefully have a heart-to-heart with the co-worker in a manner that prevents embarrassment. My adult cousin was living with us at one time, and my son didn't care for him at all. His hygeine and manners left a lot to be desired, so my son drew a picture of a stick of deodorant and placed it under my cousin's bedroom door. It was very rude and I scolded my son for doing that. My cousin did get the hint and made the effort to bathe more. My point is not that I condone rudeness - only finding a way to talk to the person so that they can do something about it. They may be totally unaware that they smell and would be horrified to think they were offending others. They would want to do something about it, most likely, but tact is the key to telling them.

Answer 5

Don't tell him/her yourself . Let the boss earn his keep and do THAT job . No matter how tactful you are it backfires . You should not have to work near that 8 hrs. day . If you are right next door , someone else might think it even comes from you ! LOL Just joking . In the meantime get out the air freshener .

Answer 6

You and I both know there is no way to do this tactfully. Frankly it is not your place. If it bothers you so much that your job is impared get off Yahoo Answers and go report it to HR.

Answer 7

This is definitely a thing for HR to handle. Unless you have a really, really good relationship with this person, any approach you make will be seen as hostile.

Answer 8

Get the largest capacity Super Soaker they make and bring it to work. Fill a bucket with soup. Douse your coworker so: Rinse, Lather, Repeat. Do this everytime the bastard comes to work smelly.

Or you could anonymously email him this question and hope he cleans up his act (literally).

Answer 9

You could leave soap and deodorant on their desk but if someone stinks I would say they know they stink.I would tell the boss to ask them to clean up their act literally!

Answer 10

Give them a present. Something that they can keep in at their desk that will make everything around them smells nice.