The Raise

Compensation drift is silent until it isn't. An employee who discovers she's been underpaid relative to market doesn't just feel underpaid — she feels deceived, because the information was available and her manager chose not to act on it. Proactive market corrections cost money; reactive corrections cost money and trust. The manager who waits for an employee to bring data is not being prudent — they are transferring the burden of fairness onto the person least empowered to carry it.