An Employee with Hygiene Problems (Managing Essentials™ Series)

New Just-In-Time Performance Management Tool! What do you do about an employee with body odor, bad breath, or who appears unclean? There are four steps you can take to help the situation.

This is always a tough topic to tackle. But it's important to address the issue with professionalism. Give specific examples of how and why this hygiene problem negatively affects getting the work done.  The employee must agree this is a problem that needs to be corrected.  You can be compassionate but be firm and specific about your expectations.  Ask for and offer suggestions for specific actions that can be taken to correct the problem.