Don’t Ask for a Raise, Trust Karma

Do you wonder what advice CEOs would give women? Twitter was abuzz with the advice to professional women everywhere from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Nadella was addressing thousands of women at the Grace Hopper technology conference yesterday.

He suggested that women should embrace their superpowers and expect a raise to come from good Karma. “It’s not really about asking for a raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will give you the right raise.”

It’s interesting to reflect on this advice, in an age where the data shows clearly that women consistently earn less than men for equivalent roles and experience.

In fact, what you hear most is that women tend to be less forthcoming in their requests for raises, and just “expect good things to happen”; hence they end up being disadvantaged compared to male counterparts.

What it does underline is that even the most enlightened CEOs in technology, those who commit to change and to diversity, sometimes may be unaware of the extent of inequalities and the “unconscious biases” that women encounter. Or, if they are aware, may not have considered the need for a systemic approach to leveling the playing field.

Many great CEOs are “talking the talk” on the need for diversity, especially given the data released voluntarily this year by top tech companies that demonstrate lack of ethnic and gender diversity. It’s a beautiful thing that this realization is dawning. The question is, how does this translate to “walking the walk”?

It is clear that the intentions are good. We should applaud Nadella for spending the time to deliver the keynote at a women’s tech conference; it sends a great message. And Nadella did apologize in a statement made after his speech. The question is, how do good intentions translate into measurable action?

If this is the view from the top, i.e. a wonderful but somewhat naive belief that “good things will happen to those who deserve it”, then it is hard to imagine a push from the CEO to put in place explicit programs to combat issues and encourage women.

Do these CEOs embrace job shadow programs, mentoring, events to promote networking and to coach women on what it takes to progress professionally? Do they ensure that men are engaged in these efforts as well?

Do they regularly review trends on women and diversity by group, by level of seniority in the company? Many tech companies have released data that about thirty percent of their work forces are women; few talk about what it looks like at senior levels. If sales take a downward path, the alarm is sounded loud and clear; if gender mix does the same, does it have similar visibility with the executive team?

Do these CEOs hold senior management accountable for ensuring that eligible women have been considered as candidates for open roles? For sure, no one should ever get a job because of gender or ethnicity, but sometimes a deliberate emphasis can help ensure a comprehensive view of all eligible candidates.

These are just some examples of what companies are beginning to do, ideally with support from the CEO and the senior executive team.

Increasingly, companies with enlightened CEOs are putting in place a plan, and the hope is that more will do so….and maybe one day, it will become part of the company DNA.

On behalf of women everywhere, the devout hope is that it is not just left to Karma.

Originally published on LinkedIn