Among the first things to consider: Who's grabbing the credit and how can you stop them - or at least mitigate any adverse impact.
That feeling of satisfaction after a job well done can easily fizzle when a co-worker or boss takes credit for your ideas or accomplishments. When people take credit for your work or idea, it makes you feel as if you don’t matter. “We don’t like unfairness in life, generally,” said executive coach Michele Woodward. “Why would you let someone take credit for your idea and not raise a stink?” But people often worry that challenging bosses or co-workers in public can lead to repercussions and hurt team dynamics. Nonetheless, it’s important to claim ideas as your own, Woodward added: “I suggest people speak up immediately when someone attempts to steal your stuff, because the more time that elapses, the harder it is to assert your claim to ownership.” When you don’t assert yourself, it harms your chances of receiving due recognition. Take the case of Robert Noell (not his real name), the most junior developer on a team working on a big contest website for a major bank. After the site launched and contest votes began streaming in, the project lead accidentally wiped the live database. The client, unsurprisingly unhappy, threatened to sue. “I wrote a script to comb through server logs and recreate the vote entries, and everything was back to normal within 30 minutes,” Noell said. Unfortunately, it was the project lead, not Noell, who ended up recognized at a companywide meeting for his leadership and quick thinking. Because Noell didn’t want to rock the boat, he only mentioned his accomplishment to his boss and a middle manager. At his next performance review, ironically, he ended up marked down for not working well with teams. On the upside, other developers recognized Noell’s accomplishment, and recommended him to lead his own projects after that, so his hard work wasn’t a complete waste. But if he had it to do over again, he would have communicated the work he did more widely: “Had I right away sent a technical email discussing what I did to recover to the entire team and management, it would have made it hard for anyone else to take credit.” Or take the case of Stacy Caldwell (also not her real name), who’s worked as a head of infrastructure at a tech company. When men took credit for the way she explained tech, she began putting her explanations on a blog, creating a time-stamped record. If the information isn’t for public consumption, she puts it in a company wiki. She also sends emails as follow-ups to conversations, generating a paper trail.
Here are some tactics to help you gain both the recognition and credit you deserve.
How to Deal with Contractors Taking Credit For Your Work
Contractors also must take care that they’re recognized for their work. That can sometimes be difficult, as regular employees will sometimes try to seize all the credit for things that contractors do. During a period of self-employment, software developer Jamie Grimmett (not his real name) had a client who strung him along for several months, making him reach out to vendors, find a perfect solution for them, and write up a detailed scope document. After all that hard work, the client took the document to an overseas firm, which performed the work at a lower rate. “I didn’t really have any legal recourse, but I felt really depressed and angry about it because I had turned down other work because they had expressed their intent so strongly,” Grimmett said. Now he requires his clients to sign an hourly agreement for his research: “I’ve lost clients who were scared off by that, but I figure if they aren’t willing to pay for exploratory work for their benefit, I don’t want to work with them.” Putting things in writing is a surefire way to ensure you get what you deserve.
How to Deal with Managers or Colleagues Taking Credit For Your Work
Woodward recommends that recruiters and hiring managers ask interviewees about the last time they had a disagreement in the office. “This question will shine a light on whether ‘everyone else is a jerk,’ which indicates that the speaker is probably condescending, and could illuminate communication style, self-awareness, and perception,” she said. That, in turn, could help head off management problems later—including employees taking credit for others’ work.
Steps for How to Deal with Bosses Taking Credit For Your Work
Manage Up - Subtly
Find opportunities to get exposure to your boss' superiors. Volunteer for assignments or participate in a task force - anything to gain visibility and let the bigwigs know about your contributions.Ask to Tag Along
If you know your boss will be speaking about project results at a meeting, ask if you can attend or make a brief presentation highlighting your contributions. At the very least, ask that your name be included on reports or in presentations as a member of the contributing team.Request Recognition
This might be the last approach you should consider: If more subtle attempts to gain recognition fail, ask your boss directly for credit. Don't say that he's hogging the glory, instead ask if he thinks you're contributing, then ask to be recognized. If you frame your request for recognition in a way that seems fair, it will be harder for your boss to refuse.
"IT professionals in particular have to learn the art of self-promotion and make certain that they don't stay locked in their cubicles," says McIntyre. "The more visibility you have and the more you let people know about your contributions, the harder it will be for anyone to grab credit from you."
Although credit grabbers can exist in any type of culture, there are some environments where their behavior seems to flourish. Before laying out your strategy, it helps to understand why these folks can sometimes become pervasive in a workplace.
"Have people been 'set up' or even sanctioned to tear each other down, to try to win at the other person's expense, or otherwise act disrespectfully?" asks Daniel Robin, principal and founder of Daniel Robin and Associates, a workplace consulting firm in Santa Cruz, Calif. "Though this is often accepted as part of a 'tough' culture, it isn't as productive in the long run as structuring around all-win teamwork and collaboration."
Robin adds that a lack of workplace accountability will cause people to grab credit from each other because the structure that identifies and tracks performance isn't working. In these types of cultures, Robin recommends establishing win-win partnerships and more boundaries around work agreements to help reign in credit grabbers.
"Create better job definitions and agreements so that proper credit is endemic to doing a good job," says Robin. "Everyone needs clear boundaries and a sense of ownership to do their job well.
Steps for How to Deal with Co-Workers Taking Credit For Your Work
Control the Information Flow
Give your boss regular updates about your work and examples of how you're contributing to team results. Your actions won't be completely viewed as self-serving. Because bosses want to know what's going on, you'll be considered helpful when you pass along informative tidbits. Also, request to review drafts of any correspondence or reports being produced with others, and be certain to add your name if it's been left off instead of claiming too late that your corworker is taking credit for my work.Play 'Keep Away'
If you know you're working with a credit hog, don't feed him any ideas or give him access to your work product. Protecting yourself, especially in dog-eat-dog corporate cultures, is a must-have workplace survival technique.The Gentle Correction
So you're in a meeting, and your co-worker makes a presentation highlighting team results and leaves out your name. Find a way to comment and casually toss your name into the credit ring. For example: "You know Bob brings up a great point. When I was conducting project research, I also came to the same conclusion."The Direct Approach
With credit grabbing co-workers, you may have to ask for your fair share of recognition in a private meeting. Citing examples will help focus the discussion on real situations, instead of emotion or perception. Says McIntyre: "Have your emotions under control during the meeting and simply ask to be recognized for your efforts."
