
Satya Nadella Email to Employees: RE: Grace Hopper Conference - minimaxir
http://news.microsoft.com/2014/10/09/satya-nadella-email-to-employees-re-grace-hopper-conference/
======
x0x0
It's in Satya's interest for employees not to demand raises. Goes for men too.
I bet he tells employees not to share salaries either. All it does is breed
discontent when you find out how much more your peers make. Instead, you
should work super hard and hope the salary fairy will recognize your
contributions!

Everyone in a company should go interview every year or two and figure out how
much $ you're worth. If you're underpaid, you'll be in a great position to
either get a raise or hop jobs.

Of course assholes like Mark Suster will tell you not to hop jobs -- you might
get paid what you're worth! Instead, you should stay at startups, be
underpaid, and bust your ass. _Especially_ if Mark invested. Don't listen.

~~~
pm
When has Mark Suster said that?

~~~
akkartik
I think he means [http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/04/22/never-hire-
job...](http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/04/22/never-hire-job-hoppers-
never-they-make-terrible-employees).

~~~
csallen
Ugh, the post you linked is baffling. "You’re in it more for yourself than
your company." Obviously! It's called rational self-interest. It's the
company's responsibility to treat their employees well enough that it's in
their best interest to work there. If you've spent a lifetime honing your
skills, why would you want to work for someone who doesn't understand this or
doesn't care?

~~~
pm
I like much of Mark Suster's writing, but I agree with you on this point
wholeheartedly. Not all companies are built the same. There are lots of
unhappy people pissing their life way doing shit they don't like - I don't
intend on being one of them.

------
SeoxyS
I think it's impressive, and somewhat refreshing to see someone so plainly
admit "Sorry, I fucked up, I was wrong. I know better now." I was expecting
more bullshitty-tasting PR-written damage control.

~~~
kylec
He says he gave the "wrong" answer to the question, not that the answer he
gave was wrong. It was very revealing about what he thinks about paying his
employees, especially about not trusting those that ask for raises.

~~~
geetee
_Without a doubt I wholeheartedly support programs at Microsoft and in the
industry that bring more women into technology and close the pay gap. I
believe men and women should get equal pay for equal work. And when it comes
to career advice on getting a raise when you think it’s deserved, Maria’s
advice was the right advice. If you think you deserve a raise, you should just
ask._

What more do you want?

~~~
kylec
Contrast that with what he actually said at the event:

 _That might be one of the additional superpowers that women who don 't ask
for a raise have. It's good karma, it'll come back, because somebody's going
to know "That's the kind of person that I want to trust. That's the kind of
person that I want to really give more responsibility to."_

~~~
EpicEng
You were nitpicking what he said in his email. You took one sentence to
satisfy your need for pedantry and completely ignored what he said after
(which disproves your take on the matter.) What does his statement at the
event have to do with that?

------
FlyingLawnmower
Full text below for those who have difficulty accessing the site:

All – Today I was interviewed on stage by Maria Klawe at the Grace Hopper
Conference – I encourage you to watch the video. It was great to spend time
with so many women passionate about technology. I was honored to be a part of
it and I left the conference energized and inspired.

Toward the end of the interview, Maria asked me what advice I would offer
women who are not comfortable asking for pay raises. I answered that question
completely wrong. Without a doubt I wholeheartedly support programs at
Microsoft and in the industry that bring more women into technology and close
the pay gap. I believe men and women should get equal pay for equal work. And
when it comes to career advice on getting a raise when you think it’s
deserved, Maria’s advice was the right advice. If you think you deserve a
raise, you should just ask.

I said I was looking forward to the Grace Hopper Conference to learn, and I
certainly learned a valuable lesson. I look forward to speaking with you at
our monthly Q&A next week and am happy to answer any question you have.

Satya

~~~
ChrisAntaki
For context, here was Satya's first answer:

> "It's not really about asking for the raise, but knowing, and having faith
> that the system will actually give you the right raises, as you go along.
> And that, I think, might be one of the additional super powers, that quite
> frankly, women who don't ask for a raise have. Because that's good karma,
> it'll come back! Because somebody's going to know, 'That's the kind of
> person, that I want trust.'"

I hope every woman at Microsoft asks for a raise tomorrow.

------
kylec
I know the question was posed at a conference about women in technology, but I
think a good answer to the question of how to ask for a raise goes beyond
narrowing the pay gap between women and men. There are plenty of men, myself
included, that also feel like we're not getting what we're worth and what our
colleagues are getting, but don't have the knowledge how or courage to
confront our manager and ask for a raise. Perhaps women are more predominately
or more severely affected by this issue, but there's more to it than the
men/women pay gap.

I liked Maria Klawe's answer a lot more, it provides some really useful advice
beyond "if you think you're being payed less than your male peers, ask for a
raise".

------
raghavsethi
If I may put a bit of a cultural spin on this, his comment sort of reflects
the culture in India, where a vast majority of people do not feel comfortable
simply asking for a raise. Most people (men and women) essentially follow the
strategy that Nadella suggested, to work harder and believe that you will be
rewarded for it eventually. I'm not in any way suggesting that this is an
effective strategy (especially for women), but it might explain his comment
somewhat. Great apology, though.

~~~
jacalata
He has been in the US since college, for longer than some of his employees
have been alive. I don't think that's a good excuse.

~~~
anigbrowl
I'm inclined to agree with the GP. Attitudes about money, negotiation and
status are formed early in life and while you can outgrow them it's difficult
to shake them off entirely.

I've been in the US nearly half my life (from Ireland originally) but I can't
see myself getting used to that aspect of American business culture. My
instinctive view is that if I'm you're employee and you're happy with my
performance, it's your job to put your money where your mouth is, not mine to
come to you asking for more. My compromise approach these days is that when
someone solicits my help I ask them how much they've budgeted for the work
they want done/ If the answer is not a positive sum, then I ask them what area
they're willing to accept and equivalent loss of productivity.

------
timothya
Video of the interview:
[http://new.livestream.com/accounts/10060267/events/3447060](http://new.livestream.com/accounts/10060267/events/3447060)

The question about women asking for raises happens around 01:34:04.

~~~
yen223
As a person who can't currently view videos where I am, what was the
controversial statement that Satya made?

~~~
ChrisAntaki
> what was the controversial statement that Satya made

"It's not really about asking for the raise, but knowing, and having faith
that the system will actually give you the right raises, as you go along. And
that, I think, might be one of the additional super powers, that quite
frankly, women who don't ask for a raise have. Because that's good karma,
it'll come back! Because somebody's going to know, 'That's the kind of person,
that I want trust.'"

He's assigning good karma to a lack of assertiveness in women.

~~~
Confusion
No, he's assigning good karma to everyone that places trust in colleagues,
managers and 'the system'. Which may seem naive and even incomprehensible, but
that does not preclude that he actually believes it and that his belief system
is something that is as worthy as any of ours.

------
izzypark
As a female in tech, this is disheartening because it discourages men to
advocate or talk openly for gender equality. How awful is it that we just
shamed him publicly so instantly? I hope men aren't discouraged by this. Guy
needs a bear hug.

~~~
jcheng
The takeaway I got from this article is that some women in tech find the very
idea of male allies condescending:
[http://readwrite.com/2014/10/09/technology-sexism-male-
allie...](http://readwrite.com/2014/10/09/technology-sexism-male-allies-grace-
hopper-celebration)

What do you think?

~~~
izzypark
jcheng - The problem of gender equality cannot be solved by women alone if
that's what the author is insinuating. Of course men can't truly empathize,
they aren't women. It's about awareness. Most senior board positions in the
corporate world are held by men - they don't think it's a problem at all and
the thought doesn't cross their mind. Not all of them need to "get it right"
right away but getting them to talk is a good next step. My school recently
did a student body survey on this topic: 34% of my male colleagues think
American companies have policies in place to help men & women succeed vs
17%(!) women. [http://whartonjournal.com/2014/09/29/wharton-women-in-
busine...](http://whartonjournal.com/2014/09/29/wharton-women-in-business-
wwib-survey/)

~~~
CmonDev
_" Most senior board positions in the corporate world are held by men"_

Why focus on gender? I think every board should have first-generation
immigrants, people of different faiths, different races and genders and most
importantly no more than 50% should come from rich backgrounds and prestigious
universities.

------
wildpeaks
The 502 error _" Invalid response"_ that the server returns right now is
ironically spot on.

------
suprgeek
Refreshing to see Satya clearly state "I answered that question completely
wrong."

No weasel words there...as opposed to so many other non-apology apologies.

------
ntkachov
>Maria asked me what advice I would offer women who are not comfortable asking
for pay raises

>If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask.

Great Advice. A+. His original answer probably answered the question better.
The answer he gave for the question he was asked was very appropriate. The "Do
it anyways" response that was given by Maria doesn't answer the question, it
avoids the topic all together and doesn't help the person for whom its an
actual problem.

~~~
gohrt
Maria gave some useful advice: she said to role-play a negotiation. Satya
said, "you are getting paid enough, don't worry about it", which isn't true
for most women and isn't true for most men either. (But may be more true for
some men, men who already figured out how to ask for a raise.)

------
general_failure
I see signs of a great CEO here. Owning up for mistakes is not easy!

~~~
BadassFractal
Not really. When you say something that stupid, you have no option but to
backtrack. Imagine if he answered one of the questions with the assertion that
"black people must die". Do you think we would have had much of an option
there?

~~~
ayrx
You obviously have not seen many press releases before. PR teams excel at
putting a positive spin on even the worst blunders.

------
BobMarz
If only the press and twitter got as worked up about the multi year wage
fixing lawsuit that may or may not go to trial rather than these little gaffes
and gotcha moments

------
gojomo
It's sad how every outlet is putting in its headline some form of: "Satya
Nadella to Women: Don't Ask for a Raise".

But "don't ask for a raise" _weren 't_ his words. His actual words were subtly
different, and more along the lines that it can be OK not to ask for a raise –
you shouldn't _have to_ ask for a raise – when a compensation system is
working right. It was sort of a "don't feel too bad" reassurance to women who
are not comfortable pushing for raises.

The main problem with his answer was that it was sufficiently unclear as to
allow for the "don't ask for raises" misinterpretation... and lots of people
rush to the worst, rather than best, interpretations.

Who can report subtleties when there's revenue-goosing rage-hits to attract?

~~~
Bud
I think you are doing a good thing by pointing out his exact words. You are
right that subtle differences matter. However, Nadella was still incredibly
tone-deaf here...and this wasn't the first time. He's been doing this over and
over.

And in this case, the compensation system is NOT working right, and he
certainly knows that, and the question was clearly asked in that context...the
context of what we should do about a failed system which is unequal and
unfair.

------
xerophyte12932
On the topic of getting a raise, i wholeheartedly agree with this blog post:

[https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140908150126-7...](https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140908150126-76592-get-
a-raise-in-2015-ask-this-one-question)

TL;DR: The best way to ask for a raise, is to ask your manager/superior "What
do I need to do to get a raise?"

Asking what you need to do to receive a raise does the following:

\- Maturely suggests that you want one without putting your supervisor on the
spot

\- Communicates that you are willing to do what is needed to receive one

\- Generates clear goals for you to work towards

\- Exposes areas where your boss thinks you need to improve

\- Foreshadows whether you should be looking for a new job

------
quesera
The question remains: did he merely misspeak, or is he actually that
disconnected from what it's like to have a job?

It's good to see a clear and quick retraction, but jeez -- did the words
really reflect a thought he had in his head?

~~~
nandemo
I'm surprised that people are surprised. I'm male and I've heard variations of
"you shouldn't ask for a raise/bigger salary" many times from my managers or
hiring managers (when looking for a job).

For example: "you shouldn't be focusing on money, just do great work and the
financial rewards will come [someday]". Or "we are looking for people who have
passion for $whatever_our_company_does, not people who are primarily
interested in higher compensation".

~~~
danielweber
Yeah, I've heard that, too.

Fuck those guys. I remember Steven Yegge said "every time someone has tried to
make me happy with money they've succeeded, usually on the first try."

------
penprog
Did he really rise to being CEO of Microsoft by believing the bs he said? If
he did, he has to be one of the most fortunate people on the planet. Male or
not.

------
chrismealy
Come on people, have a little class consciousness. Don't expect upper
management to give you good career advice.

~~~
drawkbox
Exactly, he is thinking as CEO here and the last thing they want is everyone
asking for a raise every 6-12 months. He was also led into it a bit when asked
about why women haven't asked for a raise that are successful.

I think he should have said when I think the best time to ask for a raise is,
just after a major delivery or few. After proving substantive worth via
projects/ship is the best time to ask for an uptick. It is more about the
timing than anything. I think he was trying to say it this way but failed.

------
hakcermani
If he has never asked for a raise in all his career, such a thought process
would not be out of place. Granted saying this in a women specific forum will
not go well, but his later tweet, that we need to close the gap is precisely
what needs to be done. Regarding employees in general having to ask for
raises, i cannot say much, as in my job career of over 30 years, never had to
ask for one. I thought I was fairly compensated - maybe i was too happy in my
job :-( but life has not been bad.

------
jschlemm
I was there and it was interesting to see the crowd react to his comment. The
dynamic shifted shortly after he made the comment, then the crowd cheered when
he was presented with the correct response. I just think the backlash is crazy
and there are certainly a group of people that are focused on making noise and
not progress

------
alecdbrooks
I suspect he gave his standard advice about raises without considering the
circumstances or that it wouldn't work equally well for men and women. That's
not an excuse, but a reminder that sexism doesn't have to be deliberate to be
sexism.

On the positive side, he did apologize without the typical spin or
qualification.

------
CmonDev
This is so sad. Why not say this:

"I believe all _intelligent beings_ should get equal pay for equal work."

This includes races, genders, being offshore/onshore, being a shareholder or
an employee etc.

------
aceperry
I guess that means he recognized that he put his foot in his mouth.

------
atomical
My take is that he doesn't want to encourage anyone to initiate or challenge a
raise. That's a pretty normal response from someone in a leadership position.

------
ps4fanboy
Like asking a bank the best way to avoid paying interest.

------
Mizza
Hey guys, I didn't mean it from a _male_ perspective, I meant it from a
_management_ perspective! It's okay that way!

Yes, it's nice that he's admitting he said the wrong thing (thanks to the
Twitstorm), but let's not forgive him so quickly for showing us how management
really thinks.

------
kqland
Pay is based on background + experience + knowledge and how much company see
as valuable resource.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of women from India and China
earning $100k salary in California itself.

If you average out salary across depth and breadth of jobs and complain women
don't earn enough I pity you. Look out for "Flaw of averages" from Dr. Sam
Savage of Stanford.

If you are competent what is literally stopping from changing company ? or
Start your own business ?

Complaining that you get paid less because you are women is nothing but non-
sense. Show me recent graduate girls ( women ) earning less than recent grad
boys.

In US you don't just look at salaries. You look at total compensation which
includes PTO, 401k, holidays etc etc. Each company is different so some
companies might be paying low on salary but high on PTO. So all I am saying is
you can't just average out and claim that you are getting paid less.

By the way how this is not gender discrimination ? Guess US does not follow
its own law. There are thousands of men also who get paid less , go years
without increase what about them ? Why no movement for them ?

US is following path of Scandinavian countries and it is very sad that it is
in downward spiral.

