“My rent just jumped 15%.”
In todays economy, your managers are hearing some version of this every week.
And they feel like they need a magic answer on the spot.
In that moment, it's easy for managers to panic. They either:
over-promise a raise, or
shut the conversation down.
Neither helps.
Your managers don't need a perfect answer in that moment. They need a path.
Here's how I coach them through it — in three moves:
Slow it down and normalise the conversation first.
Start by acknowledging how stressful this feels, thank them for raising it, and buy time without stonewalling: “I don't have an immediate answer, but I do want to understand what 'better' would look like for you.”
Put a path — not a platitude — on the table.
Where you have clear, transparent bands and some headroom, map out:
where their current comp sits in the band
the next band up
what additional scope, skills or impact would justify that move over the next 12–18 months
Make it concrete. For example: today, an IC engineer at mid-band. Next band up: senior IC owning X system, mentoring Y, and driving Z outcomes.
Be honest if there isn't room in the band right now — sometimes the path is about scope change or a future role, not an immediate bump.
Turn it into a shared project.
Use existing 1:1s and performance check-ins to keep coming back to that path — what's progressed, what's blocked, what you're seeing. The company owns the constraints and the process; the employee owns their growth.
You still might not be able to solve cost-of-living pressure overnight.
But you can give people a believable, grown-up plan for increasing their earning capacity here — or be honest when that isn't realistic.
How are you equipping your managers for these conversations when you can't just say "yes" to a raise?