Article 20.8.2024

A diverse workplace is a choice – and a resource

A diverse community accepts and appreciates differences. Diversity at work is also tightly connected to inclusivity and equality. At IKEA, diversity is an important part of the work community and daily work. The community is easy to join and lets everyone’s voice be heard.

Familiar to many of us, IKEA is a multinational furnishing retailer founded in Sweden. The Finnish IKEA stores are located in Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Raisio, and Kuopio. In addition to the stores, there are IKEA Planning Studios around Finland. IKEA employs about 1,800 people in Finland.

It is important to IKEA that daily life in the workplace is sustainable, and that everyone feels free to be themselves.

– Diversity and equality are directly based on our values. Our goal is to take various minorities into account in our operations as well as possible. We believe that a diverse work community also better understands and serves our diverse customer base, says IKEA Finland’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Leader Catharina Van Den houwe.

As a global company operating in many countries, IKEA takes into account the local society and customer bases while leaning on the company’s values.

– It’s about respect for the surrounding culture while adhering to values important to us. Each employee is responsible for creating a diverse and inclusive work culture, and we provide everyone training on that as well, says IKEA Vantaa’s People and Culture Manager Carin Snellman.

Inclusivity is also important – including everyone as equal members of the work community regardless of their backgrounds. Belgian Catharina Van Den houwe has first-hand experience in moving from another country to work in Finland.

 – I have a degree in biotechnical engineering, but I have worked in HR and sales for over 20 years. After moving to Finland, I underwent immigrant integration training, and practical training at IKEA’s logistics, where I was then employed. I was willing to work hard to find employment in Finland, because I think it’s easier to integrate into a society through work.

Diversity means understanding and appreciating differences

What is a diverse workplace like? What exactly makes a work community diverse?

– The employer’s responsibility is to ensure that different people can work in the same workplace without discrimination. In a diverse workplace, employees can feel welcome as they are, summarises Carin Snellman.

There are many different aspects to diversity. to Catharina Van Den houwe, IKEA talks about “the big five factors”: gender, age, nationality, disabilities, and sexual minorities.

– We take these perspectives into account in our work communities, daily work, and non-discriminating recruitment. In the next three years, we’ll pay special attention to considering gender, nationality, and disabilities. Of course, we realise that there are many other important perspectives to consider as we want to be a diverse workplace.

Diversity requires understanding, accepting, and appreciating differences.

– Here in Vantaa, our employees include 47 nationalities, and we want everyone’s voice to be heard. We include diversity in our daily work and celebrate it. We aim to consider various beliefs, religions, and important events. We can celebrate Christmas or the end of Ramadan together.  Pride is also an important celebration for us, says Carin Snellman.

Good things come from diversity

Diversity has been researched a lot, and studies show that it produces many benefits.

– Diverse teams perform better, make good decisions, and are more creative. We are proud to have a diverse work community, and at the same time, it’s easier for us as an employer to attract a broader spectrum of employees from various backgrounds, says Van Den houwe.

Catharina Van den houwe wants to remind that in addition to diversity, you need inclusivity, i.e. a policy that includes everyone and does not discriminate.

– When I started at logistics in Vantaa, I immediately felt welcome even though I was an immigrant female over 50 who only knew basic Finnish. The diversity and inclusivity of my team definitely helped me become part of the work community.

Taking diversity into account in recruitment is an essential part of IKEA’s HR policy.

– Minorities may find it harder to find their way to employment due to various conscious and unconscious prejudices. We try to get rid of these prejudices with training, for example, says Carin Snellman.

All units of IKEA Finland have participated in the Job Shadow Day project where people from groups with various disabilities have followed work at IKEA for a day. 

 – This spring, 16 people got to see what working here is like. Job Shadow Day helps us as an employer to understand how we can better enable people with various disabilities to work here. 

Actively include minorities

According to Carin Snellman, when hiring employees, it’s best to aim for a broad group of applicants.

– We want to reach a group of applicants as broad as possible, reflecting our goal of a work community that is diverse in gender, age, nationality, etc. From this group of applicants, we find the most suitable employees for our positions.

In early 2021, IKEA Finland began a long-term co-operation with the Finnish Refugee Council to support employment of refugees. During the co-operation, a large number of refugees have already been recruited to work at various functions of the stores.

– More than 20 per cent of the inhabitants of Vantaa have an immigrant background, so we think this should be reflected in the personnel of IKEA Vantaa as well. We don’t always only look at an applicant’s resume but also potential. New skills can always be learned. We are also flexible regarding language skills: an applicant doesn’t have to speak perfect Finnish, if they speak English, for example.

How do you measure the implementation of diversity and inclusivity?

– We conduct regular job satisfaction surveys and an “INGKA Include” survey every two years, where we measure the implementation of diversity and the personnel’s view of inclusivity in our work community. Of course, we also pay attention to the surrounding society, which we want to be reflected at our workplace, says Catharina Van Den houwe.

Based on survey results, various support groups have been established at IKEA Finland to look into the integration of refugees or people with disabilities into the work community, for example. Van Den houwe wants to emphasise that it’s important to include the minorities themselves in these groups. The company is indeed interested to hear what kind of development ideas people from various backgrounds and perspectives may have.

Be bold!

IKEA has traditionally attracted a lot of young employees, but how about older employees?

– Once again, we received thousands of summer job applications, so young people view us as an attractive employer. Due to the nature of our work, the average age of our employees has been low, but we also have an increasing number of older people, and we see a lot of potential in this age group, says Carin Snellman.

What advice would you give to workplaces that wish to be more diverse?

– Make diversity and inclusivity a part of everything you do throughout operations…, from recruitment to sales and management, says Catharina Van Den houwe.

–Make your diversity? goals a part of your strategy, and preferably your values as well. Tell your personnel about the benefits of diversity. And most of all, be bold, says Carin Snellman.