Tip Tuesday

When A Co-Worker Takes Credit For Your Work

I can’t believe he presented my work as his own! He didn’t even acknowledge that it was my work. It was even my PowerPoint presentation he used!” moaned a career-coaching client. “Now what am I going to do? And what if he does this to me again?” she added.
Unfortunately, this situation is not unusual if you work in corporate America. Try asking 10 friends who work for large, global companies and I’ll bet at least half of them have had someone else try to take credit for their work or ideas at some point in their careers.

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Wondering about the best way to handle it without turning something negative into an even worse issue? How you handle the situation of someone else trying to take credit for your work depends on two main factors: who the person is and how egregious the credit taking that occurred.
Let’s look at two types of situations when a co-worker tries to take credit for your work. The first example provides tips for handling what I’ll call the “low key” situations and the second example includes tips for dealing with bigger issues of credit stealing.

Co-worker/low key situation

• If a co-worker took credit for your work but what they took credit for was fairly low-key (such as leaving your name off the list of project participants or not including you on the email distribution list for work they completed with you), then the solution may be as simple as sitting down with the co-worker to understand what happened and why they behaved the way they did.
• In this type of situation it is best to go immediately to the person and resolve the situation directly with them because sometimes it can be a simple oversight on their part. Gain their agreement that this will never happen in the future.
• Depending on how your co-worker reacts to the discussion, you may also want to let them know that, if it does happen again, you will need to escalate the situation to your manager.

Co-worker/bigger issue

• If the co-worker took credit for something that is a big deal (such as presenting your ideas for a new product or promotion and passing the ideas off as their own, or, using a presentation, report, or business plan you had created but changing your name to theirs and taking credit for your work), in addition to immediately speaking with the credit stealer (as mentioned above), it’s important to also have a confidential discussion with your manager about the situation.
• Remain calm and avoid whining or finger pointing when you speak with your manager. You are there to make them aware of what happened so they can help prevent this situation from occurring in the future. Be prepared to rationally explain what happened and how you handled the situation with your co-worker.
• In addition, try to come to the meeting with your manager with evidence that demonstrates you were the person with the idea or who did the work so your manager will have concrete information to work from when they deal directly with the credit stealing co-worker.

I can personally attest to the fact that it’s not fun to be caught in the situation of having to deal with a credit stealing co-worker, but it’s imperative that women in business deal with the issue immediately after it has occurred.
Dealing with it may be difficult, but it puts the person on notice that you know what they did and lets them know you won’t stand for that type of behavior in the future. Not dealing with it gives free reign for the co-worker to continue their unethical behavior – and they could potentially end up sabotaging your career. So ladies…no matter how hard it is, stand up for what is right and protect your work and your ideas.
If you’ve successfully dealt with a credit stealing co-worker, please share your tactics in the “Comments” section below.
Co-workers aren’t always the only ones who can be credit stealers. Stay tuned for my next blog, “When A Boss Takes Credit For Your Work.”

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