Asking for a raise without results

One day an employee comes to me and says:

“Marbeel, I want to ask for a raise.”

I asked him:

“Why do you think you deserve it?”

And he started listing reasons:

“I've been with the company five years.”

“I'm very loyal.”

“I never miss work.”

“I'm responsible.”

And while he was talking, I thought something.

None of those things was a bad answer.

The problem was something else.

Nobody had ever explained to him what he needed to do to grow.

So I asked him:

What new responsibility have you taken on?

What problem did you help solve?

What result did you create for the business?

He went quiet.

And that's when I understood the uncomfortable conversation wasn't about money.

It was about expectations.

Because when a leader stays silent, people fill in the gaps on their own.

And each person builds their own version of what it means to:

do a good job,

be successful,

or deserve a raise.

Then the frustration arrives.

Because one person believes they did everything right.

And the company believes they never did enough.

And both are convinced they're right.

The problem wasn't the raise.

It was everything that was never talked about before.

Because silence has a cost too.

Marbeel