26 AMERICANWAY
NOVEMBER 1 2008
ILLUSTRATIONBYGRAHAMROUMIEU
WO R K P L A C E
B
Beth Haiken has led corporate communi-
cations teams announcing massive layoffs,
explaining plunging stock prices, and re-
porting unprecedented losses. But in some
ways, her biggest challengemay have been
telling a subordinate that coworkers were
complaining that she smelled bad. “They
specificallysaidshesmelled likecat
[
urine
]
,”
Haiken says.
During a career that included high-level
positions at two midsize financial-services
firms,Haikenhad takenmanagementclass-
es as well as picked up tips on the job. “I’d
learned how to hire someone, I knew how
tofire someone, Iknewhow to tell someone
their work was subpar,” says Haiken, now
a San Francisco public relations executive.
“Thiswasn’t something I knewhow todo.”
Go ahead and laugh, but then consider
what you would do in a similar situation.
Itmay comeup.OnNiceCritic.com, anon-
line service that allows people to send co-
workers and others anonymous prewritten
comments, Personal Hygiene is the second
most popular category, following Cubicle
Critic. One of the hygiene suggestions on
the list is: “A breathmint would be benefi-
cial today.”Therearealso tips regarding ear
hair, cigarette smoke, andperfume. Cubicle
Critic is more of the same but for dealing
with loud talkers, jangling cell-phone ring-
ers, and smelly lunches.
If the thought of confronting a coworker
or subordinate about a personal matter
seems only slightly less palatable than, say,
informing your investors you won’t make
yournumbers thisquarter, youareprobably
normal. Successful veterans of business
usually have above-average communica-
tion skills, says John Daly, a professor in
the communicationandbusiness schools at
the University of Texas at Austin, but that
doesn’tmean they’re good at deliveringbad
BadNews Bears
Does your coworker smell? Have bad breath?Wear toomuch cologne? Then you’re in
luck, becausewe’re going to tell you how to deal with the situation.
ByMark Henricks
