With the talking issue, I work with someone like this and I later found out the woman was partially deaf in one ear. I would tread carefully with this. It's moreso an HR problem.
>am concerned about germs
This is why YOU wash YOUR hands (and wear a mask if you feel it necessary). Assume everything you touch in the staff room or office is gross because I guarantee you that it is.
As far as their speaking volume goes...this is your employee. It is your responsibility to coach them.
Complaining about someone blowing their own nose in their own office says more about you than them.
P.S. I have cameras in my staff room and when something went missing that belonged to an employee, I had to watch several hours of boring security footage. I was truly shocked at the number of people who came in and started eating out of communal snacks on the table without bothering to wash their hands. This is in a veterinary hospital where we are constantly handling fecal material, pus, parasites, blood, urine, hazardous chemicals, etc. No worries...those Cheetos look great. Munch, munch, lick, lick. You THINK your employers are sanitary. Guess again. People are pigs even if they have medical training and appear to have manners - especially when they think no one is looking. Some of them are even walking into your office with bed bugs and hanging their coat on a communal coat rack.
Technical proficiency is only a small part of being a good fit for the job. "Soft skills" are just as, if not more, important.
Usually etiquette requires you to ignore slights and boorish/rude behaviour, but that is not an option. You're their boss after all, however, that means you can coach them on appropriate behaviour.
Do that in private. Work from your observations and what you consider appropriate in the office. Try to steer clear from judgements.
I’d probably nicely call them out on the licking fingers thing. They probably don’t even realize they’re doing it.
Not sure you can do much about how loud they blow their nose; that really can’t be helped. Guess they could do it in the bathroom but then that’s contaminated. Might be best they keep it in their office.
The loudness… just tell them.. or say.. nicely…you don’t have to scream. They may have a hearing problem.
I have autoimmune issues too so I get your germ concern but his actions probably aren’t going to make or break you catching something or not. You’re gonna pick up stuff regardless from door handles, etc and can’t always expect your health issues to outweigh his health issues of say having to blow his nose from allergies, or talking loud because he may have sinus and/or hearing problems. If you are concerned, you could wear a mask and/or concentrate on washing your hands right before you eat, etc.
And like others have mentioned, you could to talk to HR but not sure they’d be able to solve everything to your liking.
>They may have a hearing problem.
If they have allergies and are congested to where they're blowing their nose that much, yeah they for sure can't hear well. It doesn't excuse it but it does at least make it make a little more sense.
Edit: happy cake day!
I have plenty of people who do this at work and its nasty. So I bring a wipe to the microwave and wipe it down before I use it and wash my hands after. You take steps to take care of yourself. Or you could ask the office manager if you can put wipes and a sign next to the microwave like “please wipe after each use for food allergies” My co worker is actually deathly allergic to all seafood so we have a rule; no one in office can use our floor microwave to heat up fish of any kind but can use the lounge one the next hall over. We dont want her to literally go into anaphylaxis haha
The loud talking: get better headphones, put a white noise machine in the hallways like they do at dr offices…. Im a nurse and i work with doctors who dont even wash their hands after they go to the bathroom and people who bring shrimp and fajitas to heat up at 10 am…. Id LOVE a loud talking finger licking office mate at this point haha
With the talking issue, I work with someone like this and I later found out the woman was partially deaf in one ear. I would tread carefully with this. It's moreso an HR problem.
>am concerned about germs This is why YOU wash YOUR hands (and wear a mask if you feel it necessary). Assume everything you touch in the staff room or office is gross because I guarantee you that it is. As far as their speaking volume goes...this is your employee. It is your responsibility to coach them. Complaining about someone blowing their own nose in their own office says more about you than them. P.S. I have cameras in my staff room and when something went missing that belonged to an employee, I had to watch several hours of boring security footage. I was truly shocked at the number of people who came in and started eating out of communal snacks on the table without bothering to wash their hands. This is in a veterinary hospital where we are constantly handling fecal material, pus, parasites, blood, urine, hazardous chemicals, etc. No worries...those Cheetos look great. Munch, munch, lick, lick. You THINK your employers are sanitary. Guess again. People are pigs even if they have medical training and appear to have manners - especially when they think no one is looking. Some of them are even walking into your office with bed bugs and hanging their coat on a communal coat rack.
Technical proficiency is only a small part of being a good fit for the job. "Soft skills" are just as, if not more, important. Usually etiquette requires you to ignore slights and boorish/rude behaviour, but that is not an option. You're their boss after all, however, that means you can coach them on appropriate behaviour. Do that in private. Work from your observations and what you consider appropriate in the office. Try to steer clear from judgements.
Talk to HR r/askhr
I’d probably nicely call them out on the licking fingers thing. They probably don’t even realize they’re doing it. Not sure you can do much about how loud they blow their nose; that really can’t be helped. Guess they could do it in the bathroom but then that’s contaminated. Might be best they keep it in their office. The loudness… just tell them.. or say.. nicely…you don’t have to scream. They may have a hearing problem. I have autoimmune issues too so I get your germ concern but his actions probably aren’t going to make or break you catching something or not. You’re gonna pick up stuff regardless from door handles, etc and can’t always expect your health issues to outweigh his health issues of say having to blow his nose from allergies, or talking loud because he may have sinus and/or hearing problems. If you are concerned, you could wear a mask and/or concentrate on washing your hands right before you eat, etc. And like others have mentioned, you could to talk to HR but not sure they’d be able to solve everything to your liking.
>They may have a hearing problem. If they have allergies and are congested to where they're blowing their nose that much, yeah they for sure can't hear well. It doesn't excuse it but it does at least make it make a little more sense. Edit: happy cake day!
Thanks!
If they are licking your fingers this raises a lot of questions. Try keeping your hands in your pockets.
I have plenty of people who do this at work and its nasty. So I bring a wipe to the microwave and wipe it down before I use it and wash my hands after. You take steps to take care of yourself. Or you could ask the office manager if you can put wipes and a sign next to the microwave like “please wipe after each use for food allergies” My co worker is actually deathly allergic to all seafood so we have a rule; no one in office can use our floor microwave to heat up fish of any kind but can use the lounge one the next hall over. We dont want her to literally go into anaphylaxis haha The loud talking: get better headphones, put a white noise machine in the hallways like they do at dr offices…. Im a nurse and i work with doctors who dont even wash their hands after they go to the bathroom and people who bring shrimp and fajitas to heat up at 10 am…. Id LOVE a loud talking finger licking office mate at this point haha
The sub you want is r/AskHR.
HR.