Colleague took credit - would you say something?

[Corporatejargon]

Just that. Passed off an important piece of work as their own pretty much, no acknowledgement of the fact I had done the bulk of the research and work. Received all praise. Was so shocked and due to circumstances there wasn’t the chance to say anything when it happened.

Would you say something, or not, to either manager/the colleague for fear of being petty/bitter?

For context - male colleague, about 10 years older but no more senior position wise.

Vote yes - say something
Vote no - leave it, petty

I would email the manager and say how surprised you were not have received credit when Mr X sought praise for x project. Having only worked within organisations full of capable and generous colleagues you hadn’t previously encountered the phenomenon where someone else tries to claim credit for work that isn’t their own. Whilst initially I was amused by the cheek after reflecting on how this could be used for appraisals I realised I should clarify the work allocation...

Yes, definitely bring it up. Email the manager and say you really enjoyed the project/task, particularly the challenging aspects of (task titles).

Eckart I think the word may be diplomatic.

If you go in your bosses office guns blazing. He stole my work!
It makes you look like a tattletale and not capable of dealing with office politics.

You make it clear who did the work in a diplomatic way.

Yep, say something!

I've had this before with one of my colleagues. I spoke to the most senior person in charge and said that I was pleased that the project had been a success, but my hard work being claimed by somebody else had made me feel very unmotivated. It was rather swiftly resolved, but my colleague still doesn't speak to me. It was a new-ish employee that didn't know that I have a reputation for being very good at my job and taking no nonsense.

Happened to me once with my boss. He even changed the version control from my initials to his.
I had the original and could prove the chain of events. I did speak up. Nothing happened and he held it against me until I left.
I’d make your decision based on how important the work was, whether you can prove it and whether it would be worth the stress to you.

Definitely say something but don't be sneaky as a PP suggests. Go and speak to your manager and just tell them politely and directly what's happened.

Do you get on with your colleague who stole credit for your work? Is he normally reasonable and fair?

If it was me, I would approach my colleague and tell him that I was feeling pissed off about what he had done. A reasonable and fair person would acknowledge, apologise and put it right.

If he didn’t do that to my satisfaction, I would share my concerns with the manager.

I agree that there is often a real difficulty for women in establishing the right professional tone in these circumstances, but I think neither the “sneaky” or “all guns blazing” approaches some people have outlined above are a good way forward. Be honest. Talk to your colleague like a grown-up.

@RantyAnty

Are you attempting to address my question as to why some PP's are suggesting being sneaky?

And if so, do you think 'sneaky' and 'diplomatic' are the same? If not, you didn't address my question.

I'm so angry on your behalf, OP.

I'd recommend being as assertive and polite as you can be. Email boss and copy in colleague and just tell the absolute straightforward truth.

Dear Boss
I'm delighted that X project has had such great feedback and I hope that this will lead to further work with the client. I noted in your recent email that colleague was identified as the project creator so I wanted to draw your attention to the fact that I completed all the X, Y and Z work including A, B and C. Colleague was a great help in the latter stages of the project and did D. I am pleased with the work that I have created and would hope that I will be able to continue working on any future projects with this client, Kind regards

Definitely speak up - I would email. If you don’t want to do that first but rather speak with them then just follow up afterwards as you need to have an email trail to support What you are saying in writing about any conversation with your manager Or the colleague.

I would tell the manager that you did the bulk of that work and you wanted him /her to be aware of that.

HI OP, I agree 100% with what Haffdonga wrote. Copy and past that into an email and send.

Do not think about your male colleague - he did not give one whit for you when he took 100% of the credit for your work.

That is why men get promoted and earn more - they take all the credit for the work other people do.

You definitely need to say something. There are some good ideas on here of how you can approach it.

If I sent Hoffdanger's email to my boss he would understand exactly what your frustration is

Everything about that “Dear Boss” email comes across as needlessly petty, mealy-mouthed and passive aggressive. The tone is whiny and wrong: “I noted..” “I want to draw to your attention.” “Kind regards.”

It sounds like the annoying child at the back of the class, “Miss, Brian’s copying my homework!”

You want to sound like a colleague with a useful point to make, not a snitch.

I second using @Haffdonga draft email.
You will need to include the X, Y, Z and A, B, C because he has already taken all the credit and portrayed it as his own. You need to specific about the sections of the report you researched and wrote, to ensure you dont get a "oh, sorry, didnt realise you had contributed a bit" response.

That draft from Haffdonga introduces it without conflict. It just makes it clear that the work is yours.

Speaking from experience here - you have to confront this, otherwise it will go on and on. And it may have repercussions for you if left unchallenged, in the form of lower pay and bonuses, promotion opportunities etc.

CFs like this HAVE to be challenged. Wanker!

Was it your project to begin with OP? If not, were you asked to work on it by someone else at some point, how did your colleague get involved at the end?

You have to speak up.

A guy at work stole one of my customer leads and took credit, when I’m fact I’d already had the conversations and booked the chap in, there was a footprint on the system and showed that it was in fact me that did the work. My manager was not happy with him for doing that.
If I hadn’t spoken up it really would have knocked me, but I was so incensed, I had to do something.

I'd probably be a bit sneaky and send an e-mail like "hello manager, I just wondering if I could ask for some constructive criticism on that [work project name] that I did".

I agree that you should absolutely point this out to your colleague and to your manager as @sillysmiles suggests.

If at all possible (not easy if you're not in the office) I would do this as a conversation on Zoom or the phone rather than by email. Sometimes the tone of emails can be misconstrued, and emails can be kept, ruminated on, shared with other colleagues etc and the issue just keeps rolling on. A conversation can be much more positive.

Good luck - you're doing the right thing to say something.

I'd send Haffdonga's email.

Sorry, I voted YABU by mistake!

Haffdonga's email is spot on.