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Gloucestershire Business News

Poor hygiene is a big turn-off in the workplace

More than 50% of office workers believe their colleagues' poor personal hygiene adversely affects their concentration at work.

Showerstoyou.co.uk conducted a survey which received 932 responses from office workers from a range of professions, to find out the biggest personal hygiene and appearance issues employees noticed in their workplace.

The survey interestingly revealed that bad body odour was the biggest personal appearance and hygiene issue that employees face in the workplace at 70%.

Bad odour was closely followed by bad breath (64%) and then dirty/stained work clothes (61%).

Visible tattoos were ranked the lowest personal appearance and hygiene issue that employees encountered in the workplace at 28%. Casual clothing was voted only slightly higher at 33%.

Overall, 56% of office workers believe poor personal hygiene and inadequate appearance in the workplace adversely affects their concentration levels.

Fascinatingly, 48% of office workers believe consistently maintained hygiene and appearance standards in the workplace will improve their job satisfaction.

Simon an information analyst from London, said: "I work in a very fast-paced environment. With multiple clients and deadlines to juggle, a lot of my colleagues like to work long hours, sometimes even through the night. Unfortunately, it does result in some of them wearing the same dirty clothes over several days and the occurrence of bad body odour. Whilst their dedication is admirable, their lack of hygiene and attention to their appearance can make it very difficult and distracting to work."

Martin Smith, managing director of Showerstoyou.co.uk , commented: "In a professional working environment, personal hygiene and appearance cannot be ignored.

"As the results from this survey shows, employees do notice the poor personal hygiene/appearance of their fellow colleagues and on instances, it can affect their own performance.

"Employers should actively work with the employees to better improve and maintain hygiene as well as appearance standards in the workplace. In doing so, they will facilitate a better and more pleasant working environment for everyone."

Picture credit: Pixabay

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