I am currently working as a senior analyst for a smaller firm and I have been here for about three years now. For the most part I enjoy the actual work but I have run into a major issue with my direct supervisor that is starting to affect my career growth. Basically I am the one doing all the heavy lifting—running the data, building the complex models, and creating the final slide decks for our executive meetings. However when it comes time to present these findings to the VP or the board my manager completely freezes me out of the meetings. I found out from a colleague in another department that he presents my work as if he stayed up all night doing it himself and never even mentions my name or the fact that I lead the entire project.
It happened again last week with a major efficiency report that I spent nearly 60 hours on. I saw the final version he sent up and he literally stripped my name from the cover page and replaced it with his own. When I confronted him about it in a "casual" way he just laughed it off and said that as the lead of the department he is responsible for the output anyway so it doesnt matter whose name is on the paper. He told me to just keep my head down and that my "time will come" but meanwhile he is the one getting the bonuses and the praise from the higher ups. I am worried that if I go to HR it will just make my life miserable since it is such a small office and they are tight with the leadership. But at the same time if I keep letting this happen I am never going to get promoted because nobody above him even knows what I am capable of doing. Has anyone dealt with this kind of credit theft before? Should I start watermarking my files or just find a way to bypass him and send my work directly to the stakeholders even if it pisses him off? I really need a strategy here because I am losing my motivation to put in any effort if I am just going to be a ghostwriter for his career.