Pay Raises: Who Shoulders the Responsibility?

This week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told attendees at an event for women in computing that when it comes to raises, they shouldn’t ask; instead, they should “have faith that the system will actually give [them] the right raises as [they] go along.” Wow. Really? He said those very words right there, sandwiched between quotation marks? Yep. Really.

Of course, with recent reports stating that women currently make about 81% of what men do, Nadella’s comments did not go over well—either with his immediate audience or with the broader national audience that caught hold of this remarks. He quickly backtracked and labeled his comments “inarticulate,” but the damage had already been done.

Some, like Nikki Waller of the Wall Street Journal, have tried to point out the elements of truth in Nadella’s statement. Her argument is that the most successful people don’t have time to negotiate for raises (and indeed have never had to) because they’re too busy getting promoted and climbing the ladder. They focus on getting ahead instead of getting a raise, and that has seemed to serve them well.

Ok, fine, the powerful elite may not need to ask for raises (though there are plenty of counter-examples for that argument), but what about the rest of us? Nadella’s comments focused on women, but let’s extend this question to include all employees. When it comes to pay raises, who shoulders the responsibility—the employer or the employee?

An employer that wants to attract and keep talented individuals should pay attention to pay equity within the company/organization and find opportunities to reward star performers. It just makes sense. That said, this doesn’t always happen, and when it doesn’t, employees should be prepared to make a well-reasoned and well-supported case for why they deserve a raise.

We could write a whole separate blog article on how to negotiate (hey, maybe we will!), but the key to a successful salary negotiation is presenting it as a win-win scenario. It ultimately comes down to value, and if both parties can see the value in a raise, then it stands a pretty good chance of happening. There are always hurdles to overcome, and there’s always risk involved, but in the end, for employer and employee, it’s a conversation worth having.