Supervisor takes credit for what I did.

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Right now I'm very angry. I handled a situation at work by myself. I had to handle an issue to make sure a certain VIP was going to by handled correctly, which I did. The issue was caused by a technical problem. Protocol indicated that I needed to alert my supervisor that there was a technical issue. She then reported the tech issue to upper management. When upper management replied to her email he stated that he would look into the issue, but that I had handled it correctly, and everything looked good for the VIP. Then my supervisor then replied to the upper management guy, and took credit for everything I did.

How should I handle this? Should I just ignore it? I'm not looking to move up in position with this company. Or, should I confront her about her lie?

My history with this person has been over all positive in the past. So, this stab in the back comes as quite a shock.

And, I'm not very good or comfortable with confrontation, which would have to be over the phone or via email or IM. I don't work in the same office.

I would speak with your supervisor about how you feel about what she did; that way, she will at least know that you know what she did. Since you don't want to advance at your workplace, you can't really report her action or risk her getting angry with you. I would ask her to write and sign a commendation letter about your "assistance" with the issue she for which she claimed credit. This way, she shares the glory where it is due, but gets to save face, too. Meanwhile, she will always know that you know how she abused the situation. This gives you some amount of influence with her. She never knows if (or when) you might tell the truth with her supervisor(s).

Good luck!

Think of it as a freebie you have given your supervisor. Getting angry won't achieve anything. Your good work has advanced the cause of your supervisor and her interests and your interests are tied together so that if she gets promoted you may be next in line for promotion. Be mindful that your supervisor likes taking credit for things you do and next time you take over and solve a situation for the supervisor, she may be wanting to take all the credit herself. What you don't really know is what is happening up the next step in the management chain; that is, what is your supervisor saying to her manager about your performance and particularly, what credit is she giving you for your problem solving. In time I think certain signals from other people up the management chain will filter down to you regarding your performance and that will indicate what your supervisor is saying about you to her bosses. In the meantime I think you need to bide your time to assess the situation before you act. That might involve requesting a change in supervisor, or consider leaving the organization if you're not happy.

do not confront your supervisor unless you can afford to damage the relationship, because that is surely what will happen. just be aware that she may do this again, so save a paper trail of your work this time and in the future.

Thanks for the options. I do need to consider how (or if) I'm going to respond. Changing jobs isn't the best option at this time. With this job I can work from home, which saves me a lot on travel and wardrobe, let alone the extreme stress of working in an office. I also understand that this supervisor may be leveraging her own position in the company. So I will take your advise under consideration.

The issue would be in how you say that supervisor took the credit for your work.

Its the supervisor's job to report the thing upwards just like it was yours to report it (and I assume fix it before reporting it?). If the supervisor told management outright that she had caught the problem and fixed it herself... then she is in the wrong and you have every right to get credit for your work.

If the supervisor did not directly take credit for what you did then you can talk to her about how you don't feel its right that she did not mention your name as the one who caught and fixed the problem because it looks as if she was stealing credit for your work.

If the supervisor did blatantly take credit for what you did... that's an HR issue and you need to speak with them.

This is why the CYA rule is in place: Cover Your Ass. Do everything in writing. Most offices today work by email so when you spot something you need to report, report it by email and keep a copy of that email. If you fix a problem you of course include that info on the email too.

I've had this happen in a couple of jobs and having a solid paper trail has been a lifesaver. I once even had a manager try to shift blame for her mistake on me and I had the pleasure of not only proving to her superiors how she was lying by digging up the emails between her and me on the issue, but also the system logs for who did what at what time which showed how she had caused the infernal mess all on her own in times I wasn't even scheduled to be at work (nor clocked in or logged into a system). This experience is what taught me to not bother talking to upper management about stuff like this because they are always a little social group that protect each other at your expense... you do everything by writing, even when dealing with HR so you always stand on solid ground. You have no idea how people 'civilize' when they know there is a paper trail of their actions.

I had same situation in January. My friend, colleague and supervisor (all in one) also took credit for what I did. I was working on a research study for months which turned out to be a piece of great work (which she did not expect to turn out that way). I confronted her, because I thought that if we are friends I can do so. It was the worst decision of my life so far. I shut down completely. Before I was at that place every single day, and for the past 9 months I went there only 4 times, just because I had to, and tried very hard not to bump into her. Now each visit to that place, which I used to love, gives me a pannic attack. I felt and still feel like she betreyed me, stabbed me in the back etc. Lost my friend, failed my last year of university (the study i was working on was my gradutae thesis) because I got very depressed after this situation. She has no idea I have AS but I am considering telling her. So, to sum up: I would not confront your supervisor. I feel your pain. Just as progaspie said, consider it as a freebie you have given your supervisor. Try to move on (I know it's hard) but it will be better for you. All the best

In general, it's part of one's job to make the boss look good. That's just the nature of top down command and control types of businesses. She is the interface of whatever group she leads. The fewer internal details to peers or her supervisors, the simpler things are for her. That's just the nature of systems.

As for credit to you, there's no denying you should get what you deserve just as any of her reports should. It's just good for morale. A group with higher morale will perform better in most cases. That makes the boss of that group look good and it's better for the business. Slip ups like what your supervisor did can probably be attributed to a brain fart from a human being having a lot on their plate.

Whatever you do, just make sure you forgive. Failure to do so early on can have very unpleasant consequences. (Trust me on this!)