Ask a Recruiter: ‘What Can I Do About a Co-worker Who Takes Credit for My Work?’
Welcome to CB’s work-advice column that includes Emily Durham, a Toronto-based senior recruiter at Intuit, public speaker and content material creator identified for her humorous and relatable TikToks about all issues work. Each month, Durham solutions reader questions on matters that have an effect on our means to thrive in our jobs, and provides her real-world insights on easy methods to deal with even probably the most rock-and-a-hard-place conundrums. Have a work-related query? Send it to [email protected].
Q: I’m actually annoyed at work proper now. My staff lately needed to pitch an thought to a shopper and I did about 80 per cent of the slide deck and the vast majority of the info evaluation we introduced. But after we efficiently gained the business, my co-worker despatched an electronic mail to our staff—together with our boss—making it sound like she was the one who led the evaluation work. I don’t need to appear petty, however I additionally don’t need anybody else taking credit score for my work. What ought to I do?
Most individuals will spend 90,000 hours of their life working—that’s almost 20 per cent of the common life span. With a lot of our time spent not solely at work, however with our co-workers, feeling supported and acknowledged by our colleagues performs a serious position in our general wellness. So it’s utterly comprehensible that you just’re annoyed by a scenario the place you are feeling like your contributions are being missed. A coworker taking credit score on your work can really feel extremely unfair and may spark fear about the way it might impression your recognition and progress on the firm long term. After all, what good is the good work you’re doing if no one is aware of you probably did it?
In your scenario, the very first thing I like to recommend doing is reframing your pondering. It’s straightforward to leap to conclusions and assume your coworker has malicious intent, or is making an attempt to cheat you out of well-deserved acknowledgement. It’s even simpler to need to rush into calling them out or addressing the scenario instantly. But keep in mind: No battle is greatest resolved within the warmth of the second. Take a while to step away, floor your self and regroup earlier than drafting up that scathing electronic mail.
Related: How to Navigate Conflict at Work
I’d encourage you to imagine the very best of intentions from this colleague—assume that there was no malice, ailing intent or calculation behind this, and that it was an trustworthy mistake, or at the least a misunderstanding. When we go into tough conversations actively seeing the very best within the different occasion, we’re more likely to speak with empathy and land on a greater end result. This mindset shift is commonly the distinction between a heated back-and-forth that goes no the place and an open and trustworthy dialog about the way you two can transfer ahead as staff members.
When you’re prepared to talk to your co-worker immediately, arrange a 15-minute assembly with them. Conversations like this are all the time greatest in particular person, over the cellphone or on video to keep away from any miscommunication or tone misinterpretations that may include emails or immediate messages. You need to start the dialog on a optimistic observe to keep away from defensiveness out of your colleague. This might imply thanking them for sending out that electronic mail to the staff, or for contributing to the undertaking in a selected manner.
Next, share your perspective. When you do that, it’s necessary to keep away from any language that’s accusatory or harsh. Instead, discuss your interpretation of the occasions and the way you are feeling; don’t make statements about your co-worker, like “You lied about the work you did.” That will set a destructive tone for the whole dialog. Instead, chances are you’ll want to say one thing like, “I wanted to hop on a call because I noticed in your email to the team that you conveyed that you were responsible for the data analysis portion of the project. It’s my perspective, based on previous emails and conversations, that I was leading this work. I want to understand if there was a miscommunication here.” Notice how the final sentence is looking for to grasp—not accuse. This permits your co-worker to clear up any confusion and create a transparent path ahead for resolving the problem.
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Your co-worker might understand their error and apologize, and alter their behaviour shifting ahead. If they turn into defensive, nevertheless, it’s all the time necessary to do not forget that generally main with empathy means stepping away and setting boundaries. It is totally acceptable to say “I understand this conversation may be feeling stressful, do we want to come back to this tomorrow?” This may help to politely remind your co-worker that that is not meant to be hostile dialog. If their tone doesn’t shift after this, loop in your supervisor.
In circumstances the place somebody taking credit score on your work is an ongoing challenge, you’ll need to escalate it to your supervisor. Mistakes occur, but when your co-worker is consistently saying they did your work, have an trustworthy dialog along with your boss about it. In this dialog, come ready with examples, like emails or Slack messages, that help your expertise. Ask your supervisor how they advise shifting ahead so you may all be on the identical web page.
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In most circumstances, your supervisor will converse to your co-worker and supply suggestions to them. A great boss will need to help you and create a protected area so that you can do nice work and be acknowledged for it. But, within the occasion your supervisor is just not ready or keen to help you, that is while you lean on HR or different leaders on the firm. Being handled with respect and being acknowledged on your work ought to by no means be solely your duty.
