By AMY STOCKWELL.
Feeling poorly-paid and under-appreciated in your workplace? Don’t worry, this CEO has got some sure-fire advice for you.
Last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told a conference of women in technology about the best way to get a pay rise.
Nadella said, “It’s not really about asking for a raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will give you the right raise.”
He continued: “That might be one of the initial ‘super powers’ that, quite frankly, women [who] don’t ask for a raise have,” he added. “It’s good karma. It will come back.”
Why is that? “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”
In summary, if you’re a woman and you want to be paid more:
Step 1: Don’t ask for a raise.
Step 2: If you don’t ask for a raise the wonderful workplace cosmos will provide you with magical rewards.
Step 3: Women who ask for raises are untrustworthy and do not deserve more responsibility.
Shorter version: good things come to women who sit silently and wait for men to decide whether they are good enough to get a pay rise.
Unsurprisingly, Nadella’s advice to working women caused a tsunami of outrage – both from women at the conference and people around the world.
But perhaps the most direct and powerful riposte came from music superstar Cher, who told it straight: