Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo, who has long been celebrated for breaking the glass ceiling for women of colour, seems to have drawn flak with her latest comment. In context of the launch of her memoir My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future, published by Hachette India, Nooyi has been doing several interviews. During one such with an international publication, Nooyi said, “I cannot imagine working for somebody and saying my pay is not enough.” She went on to add that she does not believe in asking for a raise and finds it “cringeworthy”.
While some supported Nooyi’s statement as being a personal choice, many have pointed out that this remark comes from a place of privilege. Jayalakshmi Manohar, co-founder and CPO at Streak AI Technologies, feels one should ask for a raise if they feel they deserve it. “There’s nothing cringeworthy about asking for a raise.
A business, essentially, would make decisions on hiring depending on what the priority is and urgency when it comes to disbursing cash. Therefore, the business might take a decision to not give you a raise even though they feel that you deserve it, simply because you haven’t asked for it or it isn’t urgent. Asking for a raise has nothing to do with your self-worth, it,in fact, shows confidence in yourself when you do so,” she says.
However, former corporate head-turned-chef Saritha Hegde believes it’s important to be true to your personality. “Probably Nooyi’s personality is such that she didn’t want to ask for a raise. We are no one to tell her otherwise. However, I think it was blown out of proportion because people assumed it was gender-based, whereas I think she meant it as a general thought,” she opines. Hegde, too, never asked for a promotion but was happy with the recognition she got in her 22-year career. “I’m also like her, I never wanted to ask for a raise but I got it. There’s no reason to add gender to it and say she’s wrong to say what she said,” she adds.
Agrees Harish Bijoor, business and brand strategy specialist. “Money demanded is always more disrespectful than money and promotions that are received gracefully. I’m with Nooyi when she said it’s cringeworthy to ask for a raise because I know many in the corporate world who have never asked for a promotion or increment — it just happens,” he says, adding that the organisation will reward an employee when they notice the hard work.
“You’ll get what you deserve. And if you don’t, move on and find another company.” According to Aprameya Radhakrishna, co-founder of Koo, a desi micro-blogging platform, Nooyi might have been one of those outperformers who didn’t need to ask for promotions and raises. “Given that we live in a competitive market, there’s no harm in asking for an increment. A company should ideally reward a good candidate. It’s also a company’s responsibility to look out for those who deserve the recognition,” Radhakrishna says.