Add “smelling pleasant” to that list of other workplace musts (including dressing professionally, being a team player, thinking out of the box and – oh, yeah – being competent!) Seriously. Your smell matters at work.

Just like studies that show tall men earn more than their short counterparts (the University of Pennsylvania offered pretty compelling evidence of this a couple of years ago), a neurologist at the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago says employees with foul odors probably won’t thrive career-wise.

That’s because people have very emotional responses to odors, Dr. Alan Hirsch says. And that’s because the olfactory lobe – the part of the brain that processes smells – is connected to the limbic system, which controls emotions.

“It’s why pleasant scents influence people to be in a happy state, and unpleasant odors tend to induce aggression,” says Hirsch, who directs the institute.

Hirsch was hired to analyze data from a poll done for Suave Naturals, the beauty-product company.

The survey showed that 67 percent of women queried believe their personal aroma affects their success at work.

He recently discussed why those women are right.

Q. How come two-thirds of the women surveyed link their aroma to their career success?

A. I can’t tell you why. But it may be that those who feel good about the way they smell are more confident and do better because they smell pleasant and others respond to them in a more pleasant manner.

Q. Why is this survey significant?

A. It’s interesting that so many women realized that their aroma will have an impact on their success at work. If you have an aroma that is pleasing to others, you will be more successful. That’s not new in terms of what people tend to know. You are as you smell.

Q. But aren’t some aromas pleasing to some and offensive to others?

A. Of course, there is tremendous variability in terms of what people like and don’t like. Generally, the more the intense the odor is, people tend to like it less. Most people tend to like fruity aromas and floral smells and dislike the smell of fish or meat barbecuing.

Q. What else did the survey show?

A. Women are under more stress now, and there are a lot of reasons for that. They tend to take care of the workplace and the home and 80 percent said their lives were stressful. What it suggests to me is that women will benefit from things that reduce stress. We know lavender increases alpha waves in the back of the head and puts you in a more relaxed state. Likewise, cucumber and green apple also reduce a degree of stress.

Q. What do you say to those people who believe linking aroma to professional success is hooey?

A. Whether you recognize it or not, people are judging you based on the way you smell. You can do everything else well, but if you smell bad, people will perceive you as being bad, in an unconscious way. Cognitively, they may say, “She does a great job, but I don’t like her.”‘

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