Ask a Manager: Should Employees Have To Ask For A Raise?

[purlewe]

A reader asks:

I recently found myself in a disagreement about an issue with a fellow manager: Should an employee have to ask in order to get a raise?

I've always felt it's incredibly important for employees to ask for the raises they want. Ideally, that means setting a meeting with me and coming prepared with a document including: (1) all their achievements over the past months or years, (2) what they plan to achieve in the coming months or years, and (3) a specific number request for a new salary.

As a manager, I sometimes push for top performers to get raises even if they don't ask. But I'm much more likely to advocate for someone if they ask.

The other manager disagreed. She said it's important to reward people regardless of whether they ask, and I shouldn't put so much emphasis on who asks and who doesn't.

What do you think? And if employees should indeed be expected to ask, what should a reasonable manager expect when it comes to the quality of that request? I've had people super casually say "oh hey, a raise would be cool," for example -- and to me, that doesn't really feel like a solid "ask."

Green responds:

Employees should not have to ask to get a raise!

I'm curious about why you think it's so important for employees to ask. After all, think about the function that raises serve for you as a manager: Ultimately, they're about attracting and retaining great employees, right? So why should they have anything to do with whether someone is assertive enough to ask for a raise or enough of a go-getter to put together the kind of document you want to see? That's not what you should be evaluating people on when it comes to fair pay for their work.

It's in an employer's best interests to pay people fairly whether or not they ask for a raise. You want your salaries to help you retain your best people, not leave it up to whether or not they happen ask for more. What you're doing now is opening the door for someone to swoop in and entice your best employees away with better, fairer salary offers, because you're being passive about ensuring that you're paying them the right amount.

You're also probably creating an unfair, inequitable salary structure on your team. Your system means that you could end up paying lower performers more than higher performers, depending on who asks for more. It also means that, statistically speaking, you're likely to have inequities that are based on sex and race as well -- because there's lots of data showing that white men are more comfortable asking for raises and that women and people of color are less so. The law requires you to ensure that you're paying people fairly, and it can't just be based on "he asked and she didn't."

It's your job as a manager to make sure that the salaries on your team are serving their function: that they're attracting the candidates you need to attract, that they're helping you retain your best people, and that overall they're part of a fair and equitable structure that you could defend if ever called upon to. Don't leave that up to other people.

Comments

[jadelennox]

good lord. I have been penalized at multiple jobs for going to my manager with exactly that kind of documentation. As women and bipoc people tend to be! Demanding your employees ask for a raise guarantees your salary structure is deeply unequal -- and as Alison says, ignores the entire purpose of raises.

[conuly]

Oh my god why. Why. Why would anybody be like this?

[purlewe]

Some people are so clueless that even if they write it out they cannot see it.

(I am guessing this is a man. I am further guessing this is a white man. I am guessing other white men have asked him for raises. I have a feeling he is still in a largely white men populated field. STILL doesn't mean he shouldn't have caught a clue before now.)

[green_grrl]

Possibly a privileged white woman who had bought into the belief that the male way is the right way.

[purlewe]

Also a possibility.

[minoanmiss]

The perks of management (hopefully) no longer include sexual harassment but still include being groveled to! Whee!

[ysobel]

I reeeeeeeally hope this guy [assuming gender] doesn't punish employees for asking for too much. Because that would make his shitty system worse.

[ethelmay]

Yeah, exactly. Especially at the lower end, if you are starting out kind of underpaid, asking for what you're really "worth" (i.e., what you suspect other folks are actually getting) could mean asking for a huge percentage increase, which could be terrifying. And employees are frequently denied the data that they would need to make an educated guess (not that they should need to be playing rock-paper-scissors over this crap anyway).

[shirou]

I'm glad Alison nailed this answer.

My company ties pay rises to annual performance reviews. That has some disadvantages, but it thankfully eliminates performances like LW expects of his employees.

[lassarina]

Same. My organization gives an annual cost-of-living (based on the one that Social Security gives), and then raises (if approved in the budget for the organization as a whole) are given based on performance review.

....honestly, you could make an argument that requiring employees to give you a presentation on Why They Should Have Raises in order to get them, is discrimination on the basis of mental health for people like me who are entirely too fucking anxious to ever do that, ever, because clearly that means I will get fired for asking.

[movingfinger]

I sometimes push for top performers to get raises even if they don't ask.

If employees working there know that some people are getting raises and others are not getting raises, all based on some random internal standard the manager has, a lot of the latter will be circulating their resumes at any given time.

[sara]

Yeah, the last job I had where they didn't give me a raise (for four years!), I quit.

[frenzy]

ITS LITERALLY NOT EVEN MY JOB TO EVALUATE MY WORK NOR ITS QUALITY THAT IS LITERALLY WHAT YOU ARE GETTING PAID FOR MANAGER.

also this is a little talked about thing: extrovert privilege. I suppose its also ableist because someone with an anxiety disorder would be less likely to ask for a raise especially if you need to make it a Whole Song and Dance.

I am SO OFFENDED that just asking isnt enough. No you gotta do the legwork for your own goddamn raise. This manager is fucking useless. (i mean most of them are but...)

[minoanmiss]

Word.