I was filling a Company Auditor role a couple of years back - lovely company, team of 6, but in a pretty tight space.

I went through the process and identified a candidate that ticked all of their boxes. They duly hired, but it was not until the 'follow up' stage of the process thet my Nightmare began....

It was a Monday morning - week 2, around 10.30am - when I picked up the phone to the Manager...

'Good Morning Sally,' I begun, ' Just checking up on how John is getting along?'

'Ummm, Ahhh...' And various other sounds as Sally made her way to a more privete location...

"Yes Craig I was going to call you, there is a small problem with John'...

Here it comes.......

'I don't really know how to raise this, but John...'  Yes. Go on... 'You see John has a flatchulence problem..'

'A flatchulence problem?...'

'Yes, a flatchulence problem.... It's not so much the sound, they're pretty quiet actually - it's the smell...'

'I can imagine..' I replied, trying hard not to laugh and at the same time wondering what in hell's name they want me to do about it.. 'Have you raised this... ummm... flatchulence problem with John?'

'No, Craig.. We were hoping you could, as he is still under guarantee..'  My jaw silently drops to the ground. 'It seems to be worse when he has been out the night before, and to be honest it's really affecting the rest of the staff...'

'I can imagine...' I repeated, my mind focused on her previous point about me raising the issue with John. 'Ummm, are you sure it wouldn't be best coming from you?  If I do it, he will know that you have spoken to me about it and may increase his embarassment?...'

There no come back to that one - Phew, responsibility successfully delegated!

'No Craig, I'd prefer it if you could come down here this afternoon and speak with John about it.  After all, you are his agent...'

Long story short, I went down to the office and spoke with John.  I suggested he stay off the beers and kebabs and maybe chew on some charcoal tablets....

John (not his real name) is still with the business 3 years later.  They have thankfully moved to a larger office - in fact, John now has his own office, and I am led to believe it has fantastic ventilation and air conditioning.... Nightmare over, sanity restored...