IKEA reveal secrets for hiring staff
Iconic retailer Ikea avoids paying the highest wages in the industry instead preferring to attract people who are more motivated by working for a company with a strong identity and culture.
Speaking at the recent BRC Annual Conference in London Anders Dahlvig, chief executive of Ikea, suggested: “Paying the highest as a strategy is a dangerous path to go on as you only get people who are motivated by money and they will leave when they get a better offer.”
Ikea instead pitches its pay at the mid-level in the market. “It is fair but it is not the main reason why people would join us.” Instead Dahlvig says it aims to attract people who place things like security, recognition, development, and work conditions higher up their list of requirements from employers. He believes companies with these attributes develop an identity and that this gives them an advantage when recruiting.
To help Ikea attract and retain people Dahlvig says it has developed a number of key values and ethical aspects. These include: simplicity in its behaviour - with few status symbols used by senior managers; delegating responsibility - to people early in their career and giving store managers ownership; daring to be different - involving the encouragement of employees to try out new solutions; understanding the detail of the business - with managers spending time on the shop floor; and more women being promoted to senior positions within the company.
Although Dahlvig says this has helped Ikea be voted Sweden’s most attractive employer for the past five years and also perform well in similar surveys in other countries he says one of the major challenges for the company as it enters emerging markets is maintaining and strengthening its values.
In China for instance he says there are many characteristics of the people and culture that are alien to those of Ikea including the focus on individuals rather than on teams and the reluctance of senior people to share knowledge. But there are also attributes that are in-line with the values of Ikea such as enthusiasm and an entrepreneurial spirit so Dahlvig says it is a case of “understanding the Chinese way and supporting the managers there through coaching and mentoring”.
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