Sadly, I'd say far too many employers are not very good. In reality, most managers don't have much of a say when it comes to employee pay, and that's usually two or three steps higher. This seems to be true in retail and service fields, where such things are dictated by pay bands and corporate policy. I know my manager for the large tech company I work for has to go to his manager for my pay increases. The company I own is quite small, so my employees just shoot me a quick e-mail.