I haven't seen the full context, but I believe the statements may have been offered with an implicit, "in an ideal, properly functioning system".
That is, less "don't ask for a raise", more "you shouldn't have to ask, pick a place that does it automatically [my goal for Microsoft]".
Of course, there are still problems with that approach: the salary incentives are never fully aligned, and even if you achieved that harmony of salaries-and-value for a short while, it would drift out of alignment. Workers demanding raises or managers cutting the overpaid would then both be required.
But I can see why a large-company CEO like Nadella would hold out the ideal of smooth, regular, equitable, no-exceptional-requests salary adjustments. That's something big companies can systematize much more easily than little ones.
That is, less "don't ask for a raise", more "you shouldn't have to ask, pick a place that does it automatically [my goal for Microsoft]".
Of course, there are still problems with that approach: the salary incentives are never fully aligned, and even if you achieved that harmony of salaries-and-value for a short while, it would drift out of alignment. Workers demanding raises or managers cutting the overpaid would then both be required.
But I can see why a large-company CEO like Nadella would hold out the ideal of smooth, regular, equitable, no-exceptional-requests salary adjustments. That's something big companies can systematize much more easily than little ones.