How to Deal With an Employee who Steals Credit

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Introduction

Everyone wants their work to be recognized, and it is annoying when a colleague interferes and takes credit. Situations where one's work is claimed as someone else's are common in all workplaces. The issues surrounding these incidents are often complex; handling such situations requires tact to avoid conflict. Let us say you experience a crisis in which a colleague, supervisor or other person claims credit for your work. In this case, it is important that you know how to address the situation respectfully. In this article, we will address how you can avoid and remedy false credit in the workplace.

How to Respond

Assess the situation

When misattribution occurs, consider the conditions under which the person took credit for your work before reacting. Since emotions are involved, it is important to evaluate the situation from a third person, unbiased point of view. Problems like this commonly occur accidentally. Say it was during a presentation, and a co-worker did not give you credit; it's more than likely the pressures of public speaking that caused them to omit your name. Consider times that you have mistakenly taken credit for someone else's work. Much of the time, it is not necessary to act on the misattribution as it is trivial. 

Questions, not Accusations

The most important part of dealing with misattribution is avoiding escalation in the workplace; the last thing you want is to have your co-worker become defensive. When you ask your employee "why" or "what happened?" it shifts the burden of proof on them. Do not make a public statement or denounce them, but pull them to the side privately and ask them why they did not give you the credit you deserve. This will allow them to open up and apologize to you. Ideally, they will admit that they did not provide you with credit, and you two can work from there. 

Figure out a Solution

After your co-worker has admitted to you that there was a misallocation of credit, work together to find a solution. This can be a means of restoring your credit, perhaps an email to the team, a warning for the future, or whatever you both deem acceptable. If the project was especially important to you, you might feel entitled to have that credit reinstated. In other cases, communicating the importance of recognition in future projects together should suffice to correct your co-workers' actions. 

What to Do if Those Steps Don't Work

If you feel you are the victim of habitual credit stealing or your co-worker does not admit fault, you will have to take further action. In a situation like this, it is important to remain calm and always address your co-worker respectfully. You must carefully point out your work without publicly confronting your co-worker. 

Communicate Your Accomplishments to Others

Suppose you are dealing with a superior who chronically takes credit for your work. In that case, it is vital to protect your own work. This means sharing the work that you do with individuals outside of the one manager that you consistently report to. Attach other related individuals, perhaps your manager's superior, to all significant communications with your superior. What this will do is it will make it so that your contribution to work in the future cannot be claimed by your boss as their co-workers would have directly seen the work that you did. 

Example Scenario: 

George works with his boss to develop ideas and create presentations for the board at a large company. George regularly contributes ideas that go on to be the major themes and content of the presentations. However, the boss regularly dismisses the opportunity to give George the credit he deserves. George knows that bosses do not always give credit to every team member. Instead of confronting his boss, George created extra notes and information to complement their presentation. The board saw the preparedness and information brought by George and thanked them for their efforts after the meeting. 

In this case, George can avoid confrontation with their boss while still receiving recognition from the board. By adding some additional information, you can show others that you were a valuable team member without making others feel you are taking away from the credit they were going to take. 

Conclusion 

Throughout this article, we explored different ways to handle misattribution in the workplace. This is an essential skill for all employees to master as it is common in workplaces. Remember to set a good example around your co-workers of giving praise where it is due, as this will show them that this is what you expect of them. Finally, remember to pick your battles; not all workplace misattribution cases are worth pursuing. If there is little to no consequence to not receiving credit, consider turning the other cheek as it is not worth creating conflict. 

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