For IKEA recruiters, nothing works better than a face-to-face interview
Print Edition
IN the age of the Internet, furniture retailer IKEA stands out special. It has managed to rack up double-digit growth in China in recent years without operating any online sales channel.
IKEA China recently held its first open-day event to interact with jobseekers face-to-face — using but not depending on the Internet.
In Shanghai, about a hundred candidates who had submitted resumes to the company joined in conversation with their potential future employer.
Per Hörnell, distribution services manager of IKEA Asia-Pacific, and Peter Wisbeck, trading area manager of IKEA China, participated in the event. They later talked with Shanghai Daily about the company’s recruitment strategy and the way the company manages its people.
IKEA has had a presence in China for more than a decade, with 16 stores now. China is the group’s largest purchasing market, comprising nearly 20 percent of the total purchasing volume.
Q: What expansion plans does IKEA have for China and what kind of recruitment will be required to support that business growth?
Wisbeck: As we continue to expand, we are looking to recruit people in all units across retail, distribution and purchasing.
From a purchasing perspective, China is now our biggest market. To expand revenue one needs to find a better way of working and also find more people all over the world. China has a more aggressive plan compared with other countries, so there will be a little bit more focus on China.
Hörnell: In China, we plan to add three to four stores each year through 2020. In order to do that, the most important part is to have skilled workers. We are looking to recruit about 2,000 people per year. Every time we open a new store, we will be recruiting 400 to 600 people for that store.
Q: How is Chinese talent competitive in the global market?
Hörnell: More Chinese will take up positions in IKEA, both in and outside China. Every year we take about 10 people from positions in China to work in IKEA in Sweden. China has been a very important market for us, and if we look at 2020 or 2025, the market will only be more important. For us to be better in this market, we need a lot of strong Chinese leaders who maybe work in Germany, Sweden or the United States.
Then, as a company, we will start to understand China. That’s also why we are looking for a lot of young people today — to lead China business and steer IKEA to a higher level, making us a better company.
Wisbeck: I personally have never seen so many people fitting IKEA values as I have seen in China. We look for will power and humbleness in candidates.
Firstly, you need to be strong in willingness and ambition. Being humble means you are open to learn new things and eager to learn from your mistakes. There’s a perfect match between the people in China and the people we want in IKEA.
Q: For the first time you are hosting events to meet and communicate with candidates. Why is that necessary when telecommunications and social media are so popular now?
Hörnell: I appreciate that the Chinese society is so well connected. So when we decided to host an event like this, we entrusted our communications team to publicize the information.
I’m very impressed by the way they use social media. I think it’s very important that you use modern technology that can introduce you to more people. On the other hand, I don’t believe anything can replace face-to-face meetings.
When you sit together, you open up, you gain trust and you talk about things. These things cannot be done in a cyber environment.
Wisbeck: Personally I am not very tech-savvy. I prefer to talk to people face-to-face. We hope events like this can trigger interest among participants so they see IKEA as an approachable opportunity.
Q: Are there any new methods you are using in your staff management?
Hörnell: Most of the time you reach a better result if you enable people to feel they are a part of something. They will work much harder if they recognize it has a meaning and they have a role to play. That is more efficient than to have two people standing in front of you, pointing their hands and telling you that you must do this or that.
Also, when you have good people, you need to understand whether they want to stay there or move to another function in the company, such as from retail to purchasing.
We try to support people if they start with a business unit and then want to shift to another unit after a few years. It helps people develop over a wider area.
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