How do I get my boss to stop taking credit for my work?

Faculty,

FMS, Delhi University

There is little that can be done if a boss hogs credit for the work done by a subordinate, says Kavita Singh, who teaches organizational behaviour and change at the Faculty of Management Studies, or FMS, Delhi University.

However, talking about your contribution and contacting the boss’ boss can help. “You have to be assertive enough. (You have to say) I am important, I matter,” says Singh, who also teaches an optional programme in counselling skills for managers.

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Her students—especially those holding jobs and enrolled in the part-time master’s in business administration programme at FMS—regularly discuss problems of “politics and power play” in workplaces. “If it happens continuously, you have to take a stance,” she tells her students.

Photo: Kedar Bhat / Mint

Human resources director,

GroupM, South Asia.

In the advertising world, it is very easy to take credit for work that others have done, whether it is creative ideas or hard core numbers and marketing strategy, agrees Gaurav Hirey, human resources director of GroupM, South Asia.

“Be so good that you get noticed all the time,” he advises. “If there is a great concept in a presentation, the boss won’t be able to make the impact. Then he will be forced to call upon you to better present it... Consistent good work always gets noticed.”

Photo: Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint

Office manager,

South Asia, AFP

Vijayalakshmi Iyer has today exorcized her demons.

Her position as office manager, South Asia, at news agency Agence France-Presse recognizes her managerial effectiveness—something her last job had failed to do. Out of the 14 years spent in a consumer goods company, which she declined to name, she worked for six years as secretary to regional sales and branch managers.

Managing vendors, distributors and sales depots called for new skill sets that she diligently acquired, making it easy for her bosses to rely on her. “For this, I was rewarded with one-off compliments such as ‘good job done’. These were never in public view and top management was oblivious of my contribution,” she says.

“Problems began when the boss realized that head office was calling me directly, realizing I was the one with information on my fingertips. He made things difficult by cancelling my leave and making me work late hours,” Iyer recalls.

Things changed when a new boss took over and her role expanded. It was when he left and the position was vacant for 10 months and they clocked the highest regional profits, that senior managers recognized her contribution. She won the “Employee of the Year Award” in 1993, and moved to finance in the junior management cadre where she spent “three wonderful years”.

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