I think you're conflating the issues of 1. How managers should behave regarding raises 2. How employees should behave regarding raises As an employee, you wa

I think you're conflating the issues of 1. How managers should behave regarding raises 2. How employees should behave regarding raises As an employee, you want to take control over negotiating your own raises because that generally results in more money for you. In that sense, I agree with your posts. As a manager, you want to move employees away from political behavior. Feelings of unfairness are a big demotivator, and if you wait for employees to ask for raises, then there will be very little correlation between competence and pay. Employees will find this out, and the result will be your employees focus on politics, feel like life is unfair, and in general will be less productive.