Nadella Goes Beyond Mea Culpa to Address Female/Minority Workplace Issues

Microsoft (MSFT) boss Satya Nadella, clearly flustered by hefty criticism aimed at him over his recent clumsy advice to women on pay raises and promotions, didn’t leave his public response at a simple mea culpa but instead acted to address the sensitive issues in which he founded himself ensnared.

In case you missed it, Nadella, speaking on Oct. 9 to a mostly female audience at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing—which billed itself as the “largest gathering of women technologists” in the world—advised women not to ask directly for pay raises or promotions, but instead have “faith in the system” to reward them if justified.

“It’s not really about asking for a raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will give you the right raise,” Nadella said. “That might be one of the initial ‘super powers,’ that quite frankly, women [who] don’t ask for a raise have,” he said, speaking to Maria Klawe, Harvey Mudd College president, a computer scientist, and one of only three female members of Microsoft’s 12-director board. “It’s good karma. It will come back,” he said.

The standard, and easy way out for Nadella would have been to back pedal and recant, which, indeed, he did that same day.

But much to his credit, Nadella didn’t stop there, as many would. Instead, responding to what he termed a “humbling and learning experience,” Nadella vowed, in an internal memo viewed by GeekWire, to initiate a three-part plan to “recruit more diverse talent,” guarantee wage equality and opportunity for all and foster an “inclusive culture” inside the company.

“My advice,” he wrote, “underestimated exclusion and bias—conscious and unconscious—that can hold people back. Any advice that advocates passivity in the face of bias is wrong. Leaders need to act and shape the culture to root out biases and create an environment where everyone can effectively advocate for themselves.”

Nadella said he and his top brass personally will work with Gwen Houston, Microsoft’s Diversity and Inclusion general manager, to “drive progress on the three actions,” and pledged to inform the company’s employees regularly.

“When I took on my role as CEO I got advice to be bold and be right,” he said. “Going to the Grace Hopper conference to further the discussion on women in technology was bold, yet my answer to a key question was not right. I learned, and we will together use this learning to galvanize the company for positive change. And I’ll certainly go back to Grace Hopper next year to continue the dialogue. We will make Microsoft an even better place to work and do great things.”

Nice going, Mr. Nadella, nice going. Let’s hope you don’t let the issues rest here but continue to speak and act accordingly, as you suggest you will.