Analyzing IKEA's HRM Practices for Employee Retention and Growth

This case study examines the human resource management (HRM) policies of IKEA, a global furniture retailer, and their impact on employee retention, morale, and overall company success. The report utilizes a case study research strategy, exploring IKEA's strategic HRM approach, work culture, and employee development programs. It delves into the importance of employee-centric HRM in fostering high retention rates and boosting employee performance. The methodology includes research philosophy, approach, design, and strategy, with a focus on the deductive approach and case study strategy. The study analyzes the influence of IKEA's HRM on employee satisfaction, retention, and innovation, and provides recommendations for further development. The project highlights the significance of aligning employee needs with business objectives to achieve competitive advantage in the retail sector, specifically focusing on the challenges of employee retention.

Running head: HRM
HRM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Executive Summary
The focus of the report is on the development of the human resource management
policies and its implications in a company like IKEA for the growth and development
of the company. In the modern world, IKEA is considered as a popular furniture
manufacturing company in the world. The success gained by IKEA in the current
years can be credited to the fact that the company aims at providing satisfaction for
the employees. The development of the report is done by the adaptation of a case
study research strategy that analysis the situations at IKEA. The analysis display
information about the effectiveness of IKEA for the growth of its human resource
policies and the manner in which these policies are used for retaining and satisfying
the employees. Along with this, recommendations are provided that includes
recognition of employee talents so that the human resource policies development at
IKEA can take place.

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Table of Contents
Project Outline..............................................................................................................4
Context and Rationale...............................................................................................5
IKEA Overview..........................................................................................................5
Definitions..................................................................................................................5
Methodology.................................................................................................................6
Research philosophy.................................................................................................6
Research approach...................................................................................................7
Research design.......................................................................................................7
Research strategy.....................................................................................................8
Data collection method..............................................................................................9
Literature review...........................................................................................................9
Importance of strong and positive human resource management policies on
employee retention and performance.......................................................................9
Effect of work culture on employee morale and the relationship between culture
and retention............................................................................................................10
The important elements of IKEA’s HRM policy and their effects on employee
morale......................................................................................................................12
Examine IKEA’s employee development and comment on the advantages of the
programmes............................................................................................................13
Important cultural elements that promote employee retention and innovation.......15
Discussion..................................................................................................................17

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Conclusion and recommendation...............................................................................19
Bibliography................................................................................................................21

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Project Outline
The aim of the project would be exploring the importance the employee
centric human resource management policies to ensure high rate of retention and
boost employee morale as well as performance. Collings, Wood and Szamosi (2018)
point out those employee centric human resource management strategies boost
morale of employees which encourages them to attain higher levels of
performances. As far as customer services are concerned, it can be pointed out that
employees directly interact with customers to gain more in depth knowledge about
their needs and expectations of the latter. The employee’s communicate the
information about the needs and expectations of customers to the upper level
management which ultimately leads the latter to take more concrete decisions
regarding customer services.
Thus, it has become very important for business organisations to retain their
employees to ensure delivery of high performance. It can also be pointed out that
acquisition and training of employees attract immense costs. Thus, high employee
turnover actually prevents business organisations from aligning employees with their
respective business requirements and deriving long term profits. Moreover,
employees especially at the managerial level possess skills and knowledge which
they use to serve the company. Thus, losing of talented employees actually leads to
losing of knowledge and skills which business organisations regard as intangible
assets. Kumar and Mathimaran (2017) mentioned that employee centric human
resource management policies and retention of employees enforce positive
behaviour among the employees regarding their employer organisations.
This in turns encourage the latter to achieve higher performance targets which
culminates into high performance of the companies. These high levels of
performances in the market contribute to competitive advantage in the market which
organisations boast. Thus, it is evident that retention of employees is important for
business organisations to gain competitive advantage in the market. The report
would delve into the importance of employee retention to boost the performance of
the company as a whole.

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Context and Rationale
The context of the study would be provided by the retail sector, a sector in
which employee retention is a big challenge. The retail companies set high
performance targets for employees and lack employee centric approach to human
resource management in general. This results in high employee turnover in these
companies which ultimate leads to losing of talent and skills. This losing of talents
and skills hampers the competitive advantages which retail organisations hold by the
virtue of skills and capabilities of their employees. The rationale to conduct the
research would be delving into the advantages which employee retention can usher
in retail companies. The base of the research would be provided by IKEA which is a
Swedish origin retail chain specialising in the manufacturing of premium furniture.
IKEA Overview
IKEA is a multinational retail chain based in Netherlands which specialises in
manufacture of premium and innovative pieces of furniture. The company is a private
limited company with operations in as many as 424 locations all-round the world
(Ikea.com 2019). The company was founded by Ingvar Kamprad who is a Swedish
business tycoon. The company currently operates under the leadership of Torbjourn
Loof serving in the capacity of chairman and CEO. The company has strong base in
markets of Europe, Asia, Australia and North America (Ikea.com 2019).
However, the company has no direct operations in South America and Africa.
The unique selling proposition of the furniture products of IKEA are they can be
dismantled totally and reassembled (Ikea.com 2019). This aids in easy transportation
of the products of IKEA with minimum damage on transit which results in high level
of customer satisfaction. The company has extended its product line to include
accessories like pillow covers and utensils. IKEA is a private company which means
that it does not reveal its financial performance in the public (Ikea.com 2019).
Definitions
The main are the main terms which the report would consider which has
necessitated defining them in order to provide a stronger bases to the paper.
Strategic human resource management

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Strategic human resource management is the approach of aligning the
employees with the business requirements of the organisation. Hollenbeck and
Jamieson (2015) define strategic human resource management as the business
approach which involves alignment of employees to the business needs of the
organisations. This means that business organisations management train the
employees to empower them to take decisions and perform better. Jabbour and de
Sousa Jabbour (2016) defines the term from a sustainability approach.
They define the strategic human resource management is not only composed
of empowering employees to operate in ways to as to gain profit for the business but
also to ensure sustainability. Business organisations today consider sustainability in
operations as important aspect to gain competitive advantage in the market. It can
be pointed in this light that business organisations aim to reduce expenditures and
wastages of inventory.
Thus, order to ensure cost and wastage reduction business organisations
train their employees to operate modern machineries which use minimum power and
facilitate utilising the available resources to optimum scale. It transpires from the
analysis of these two definitions that strategic human resource management aim to
ensure alignment of the operations of the employees with both the business as well
as sustainability needs of the organisation.
Methodology
Research philosophy
The concept of the research philosophy defines the methods that are related
with data collection so that research project can be developed. Research philosophy
consists of three types that include the positivism philosophy, interpretivism
philosophy and realism philosophy. The application of the three philosophies is made
effectively for collecting data. According to Neuman (2013), positivism philosophy is
applied while considering any research that is highly structured so that it can be
accounted for with the application of large sample size. Apart from this, the
implementation of positivism philosophy can provide opportunities so that the
researcher can ensure its application in a scientific manner and analyse the data to
ensure its accuracy and validity.

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However, Mertens (2014) is of the opinion that in the case of interpretivism
philosophy, the application is made on small sample sizes that are the considerable
focus to help in believing the opinion that is provided by the public which is based on
the research topic undertaken. Apart from this, the application of the realism
philosophy can be considered for possessing the characteristics that exist in the
positivism as well as the interpretivism philosophy. Hence, the application of this
philosophy can be complicated while applying for the research. For the particular
project, positivism philosophy can be applicable since the analysis is to be done in a
larger manner.
Research approach
The research approach assists in the validation of the research hypothesis
that is formulated by the researcher. The research approach is of two types which
includes inductive and deductive approach in order to validate the research
hypothesis. Flick (2015) stated that the inductive approach aims to help the evolution
of the new theories along with the concepts that can be in accordance based on the
observations made for obtaining the data that has been collected in a completed
manner. Hence, in this case, the data collection is done before the development of
any new theories along with the concepts of the research.
The new theories and concepts that have been developed are based on the
data collection along with the observation that includes any shift in the concentration
of the researcher that may aim at fulfilling the aim and objectives of the research.
Along with this, the implementation of the deductive approach helps the researcher
by providing opportunities to validate the hypothesis that is obtained after the
analysis of the literature review and the data that has been collected (Lewis 2015).
For the research on IKEA, deductive approach can be used since the different
theories from the literature review can be used for providing justification of the topic.
Research design
The research design helps the researcher by providing with opportunities that
help in providing responses to the research questions that are developed after
considering the aim and objectives associated with a research. The research design
is mainly of three types which include the descriptive research design, explanatory
research design and exploratory research design. As stated by Flick (2015), the use

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of the exploratory research design allows the researcher to make exploration about
the concepts and ideas which are new yet relevant with that of the research
questions. At the same time, the use of explanatory research design assists in
providing opportunities that the researcher can use to explain the factors which can
be used so that the research can be conducted after using valid information and
gaining support associated with the present literature.
According to McCusker and Gunaydin (2015), the use of the descriptive
research design consists of the combination of different characteristics which consist
of the characteristics of the explanatory and the exploratory research designs.
Hence, the application of the descriptive design can be justified in this research so
that the exploration of any new ideas and concepts can be used in providing
explanation about the occurrences related to the topics of the research.
Research strategy
Research strategy comprises of the action research, survey, interview and
case study that are used for developing a research successfully. Case study
research strategy provides the researcher with an opportunity to refer existing literary
works that provide support to the arguments that are based on the data and
information collected. According to Neuman and Robson (2014), the development of
the case study research can be applied widely, as it helps the researcher to gain
opportunities for the researcher to refer to the secondary data along with the
information which also enhances the quality of the work. The use of different facts,
figures along with statistics can help in analysing the topic that can be applicable for
the case study research.
At the same time, the use of the action research strategy helps the researcher
with opportunities to identify and analyse the issues that are related with a research.
Therefore, with the application of the method, the researcher can make
recommendations for mitigating any issues that can be based on the research topic.
Along with this, the interview research strategy can help the researcher to make
direct communication with the respondents so that the viewpoints as well as the
perspectives of the researcher which is based on the research aim and objectives
can be understood.

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Additionally, the application of the survey research strategy helps in providing
opportunities so that the researcher can gather data by the analysis of the total
respondents. Lampard and Pole (2015) are of the opinion that the survey research
strategy can be applied for providing opportunities so that data can be gathered on a
large scale and assist in the reduction of the error and biasness. For the research,
the case study strategy is used to analyse the problems at IKEA
Data collection method
According to Davies and Hughes (2014), primary and secondary data
collection techniques are the most preferred collection of data so that conducting the
research work can be done. The use of primary data collection techniques can assist
in collecting data directly from the participants which are related with the research.
The secondary data collection technique helps in highlighting the secondary
resources which are derived from the use of books, journals, official websites and
other facilities which can be accessed via internet.
The primary data collection technique can be segregated into qualitative and
quantitative technique. The application of primary quantitative data collection
technique helps in maintaining the quantity by assessing large number of
respondents based on the sampling method. Along with this, as stated by Noble and
Smith (2015) the primary qualitative data collection method is taken into account for
the quality of the data rather than focusing on the numbers. For the project on IKEA,
the application of secondary research is undertaken with case study of the company.
Literature review
Importance of strong and positive human resource management policies on
employee retention and performance
Strong and positive human resource management policies are directly related
to employee retention and performance. Stone and Deadrick (2015) point out that
strategic human resource management in business organisations lead to efficient
employee management so as to enable them to function more efficient which
ultimately leads to high degree of organisational performances. Cloutier et al. (2015)
introduces the second concept which is very closely related to strategic human
resource management-training. They opine that business organisations in order to

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enable their employees to perform more productively provide them with training and
mentoring.
Deery and Jago (2015) mention that business organisations provide training
to the employees which alter perceives as a sign of empowerment. Training and
mentoring make employees feel value in the business organisations. This means
that training enables the business organisations retain the employees for longer
period of time. According to Ogunyomi and Bruning (2016), it enables business
organisations to transfer more knowledge to employees as a part of strategic human
resource management strategy. Thus, in other words training results in flow of
intangible assets from the company to the employees.
Thus, it can be mentioned in this respect that loss of employees results in loss
of the intangible assets. An analysis of these articles clearly brings in the light the
importance of retaining employees. Retention of employees enables business
organisations to retain the skills and knowledge transferred to employees during the
course of training. Thus, it can be pointed out that business organisations can retain
employees to ensure that they are able to utilise the knowledge for their own
business needs. Moreover, training improves the performance of the employees
because the process leads to betterment of their skills and capabilities.
The employees performing better are able to deliver higher performance
standards which creates job satisfaction them. These highly performing employees
are able to gain appraisals, promotions and salary hikes. Thus, it can be pointed out
that training leads to career development among the employees. The employees as
a result are able to derive job satisfaction from their jobs. They as a result are
motivated to continue serving the organisations they are employed with for a longer
span of time. Thus, it is evident from the discussion that strategic human resource
management lead to employee retention and performance.
Effect of work culture on employee morale and the relationship between
culture and retention
Work culture has direct impact on the morale of employees which in turn
enforces positive organisational culture and employee retention. Brewster, Mayrhofer
and Morley (2016) stated that a strong and positive work culture results in healthy
relationship between employees and the management of the business organisations.

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This is because business organisations encourage employees to participate in the
crucial functions like decision making. Reiche et al. (2016) stated that the employees
have better ideas about the strategies which enable them to execute them more
successfully. The employees feel more motivated because they feel more motivated
and related to the organisation due to the participation in decision making.
In the words of Chang et al. (2015) the importance of work culture is that it
helps in maintaining and developing a unity among the workers. It is necessary for
organisations to understand the differences in the culture of the employees and the
work undertaken so that unity can be kept at a work place. In the words of Brierley
and Gwilliam (2017) employees may bring success by ensuring that ideas can be
used for the development of the team correlation. Therefore, for this reason
employee morale can be maintained on the cultural aspects so that effective and
trust worthy relationship can be maintained in the organisations.
Along with the work culture, difference in the culture of the employees, in an
organisation can affect the motivation of the employees. In the words of Banfield,
Kay and Royles (2018) the work culture that exists in an organisation help in defining
the way by which the employees can be treated. From the case study it is seen that
the work culture present at IKEA is based on the individual success which is required
for the growth of the company (Ikea.com 2019). The employees are provided with
responsibility that defines the needs and the expectations based on different things
associated with the company. Apart from this, the cost value is embedded that
defines the working culture of IKEA (Ikea.com 2019).
The work culture is considered as an important motivating factor mainly while
trying to retain employees for being loyal to the organisation. As observed by Guest
(2017) Herzberg’s two-factor theory can be applied that can define the importance of
work culture along with the fact that it is considered as an important motivational
factor for retaining the services of the employees. The basis of work culture needs to
be made on the development of support that can be gained from the supervisors and
the superiors. This can help in increasing the bonding between every staff
associated within an organisation.
Hence, conclusion can be made about the development of an effective
employee retention policy so that support from the employees and development of

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work culture can be made to align with the needs of the employees. Shen and
Benson (2016) is of the opinion that for every organisation it is necessary to develop
a sense of flexibility among the employees so that respect can be made based on
the needs and demands of the employees. It can help to retain the support of the
employees and ensure that it enhances the reputation of IKEA.
The important elements of IKEA’s HRM policy and their effects on employee
morale
Evidence of the case study shows that to continue with its dominance in the
business market IKEA, need to develop various important elements that can be used
to provide assistance in its growth in the market (Ikea.com 2019). At the same time,
it needs to be taken into consideration that the effect on the employees is usually
positive so that the unnecessary consequences can be avoided. Such
consequences include rise of issues like employee turnover and conflict. Hence, an
analysis about the important elements related to the HRM policy of IKEA can be
made that can help in maintaining the effectiveness of the success of the employees
(Ikea.com 2019).
An important element of IKEA is the fact that it can develop the policies that
can be used for the development of flexibility among the employees (Ikea.com
2019). In the words of Baum (2016) opportunity is provided to the employees to avail
flexible working hours and along with it ensure that the work-life balance can be
maintained. This policy adopted by IKEA can be a huge motivational factor so that
employees along with the effectiveness of these policies can reduce the rate of
employee turnover and help in providing an improvement in the productivity of IKEA
(Ikea.com 2019). Hence, conclusion can be drawn about the success related to the
flexible of the working hours of the employees of IKEA which leads to the
development of the company (Ikea.com 2019).
From the analysis of IKEA, another HRM policy has been identified that can
help in the development of the research. IKEA takes into account the interest of the
customers as well. The fact that IKEA is cost conscious and that the value of cost is
embedded with the culture of IKEA provides it with an advantage (Ikea.com 2019).
The fact that the low cost is related to the product manufacturing can help IKEA to
meet the needs of the middle class people in a society and ensure that opportunity is

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provided to them for purchasing the furniture (Ikea.com 2019). Hence, the
effectiveness of the employees can increase due to the policy.
The evidence of this fact is obtained from the analysis of the case study in
which it is seen that the employees at IKEA were satisfied due to the flexibility of the
job provided to the female workers. Therefore, conclusion about such policies can be
made about the positive impact it has on IKEA along with the interest of the
employees which are preferred more by the company (Ikea.com 2019). Additionally,
an important aspect taken into consideration by IKEA is that irregularity of work for
completing personal errand is non tolerable at IKEA (Ikea.com 2019).
The policy that is related with the work culture of IKEA is that of the flexibility,
support and the initiatives undertaken to ensure improvement in the quality of work
to improve the reputation of IKEA (Ikea.com 2019). For IKEA providing quality
products with the customers at a low cost is considered as a strategy for effective
growth of the company (Ikea.com 2019). As evidenced from the case study, it is
seen that the involvement of IKEA as been for taking care of underprivileged
children. The case study highlights the fact that corporate social responsibility of
IKEA can be involved in the development of proper work culture in the organisation
(Ikea.com 2019).
Therefore, from the analysis, conclusion can be made about the success that
is associated with IKEA. The success is based on the human resource management
policies for the development of the procedures of the organisation (Ikea.com 2019).
The effectiveness of the policies can assist IKEA with the retention of the employees
since the motivational factors of the employees can be understood by its application.
Hence, the success of IKEA can be seen from the fact that it is dependent on the
support provided by the employees so that it can be capable of maintaining loyalty
towards the organisation (Ikea.com 2019).
Examine IKEA’s employee development and comment on the advantages of
the programmes
The evidence of the case study related to IKEA, provides analysis that the
company had formulated an employee development programme so that it can assist
in the training and development of the employees. One of the programmes that was
formed included the “I Want Your Job” in 2003 (Ikea.com 2019). The objective of the

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programme was to ensure that it provides an adequate training to each of the
employees so that the employees can be aware of the different types of job that are
undertaken so that such jobs can be managed in the future. Apart from this, the
development of the programme assisted IKEA to ensure that a pool of skilled
candidates were ready to take over the operations of the company (Ikea.com 2019).
Hence, the analysis shows that 10-15% of the employees that work at IKEA
had managed to gain benefit from the development programme of the employees
and had manage to own stores that are developed within the city (Ikea.com 2019).
Hence, it can be said that for IKEA management about the subscription about the
belief for providing recognition to every employee is one of the main reasons for its
growth in the business (Ikea.com 2019). Hence, an opportunity for growth can be
provided within the organisation or to set up self owned stores. Hence, it can be said
that for the development of IKEA in the furniture manufacturing industry, employee
development programme has been the major beneficial factor since it adds to the
reasons for continuous growth of the company (Ikea.com 2019).
Apart from this programme, an important employee development plan that
had been developed by IKEA is that of the mentoring of the employees. The
programme “I Want Your Job” helped employees involved in training to work with the
white-collar employees for IKEA to be successful in the business market (Ikea.com
2019). However, it has been seen that the mentoring had been directed towards the
development of the junior managers associated with IKEA (Ikea.com 2019). This
particular initiative started in 2001 with the name of “Partners for Growth” which
helped in developing the junior managers that manage the various stores of IKEA all
around the world (Ikea.com 2019). Therefore, this initiative also helped in promoting
growth among the junior managers within the organisation (Ikea.com 2019).
Towards the latter stage of 2003, IKEA managed to develop another
employee development initiative programme which is called “Open IKEA”. The
initiative helped in providing new job opening updates to the employees (Ikea.com
2019). From the evidence received from the case study, it can be said that the
managers considered this initiative as a stepping-stone for ensuring success of the
company be gained mainly due to the opportunities of jobs being opened which in
turn was directed to provide opportunities for internal promotion among the

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employees (Ikea.com 2019). It can be said that the advantage derived from this
initiative was the fact that IKEA could identify the talents and skills that exist in the
organisation and make sure that the employee development does not get hindered in
any manner within the organisation (Ikea.com 2019).
Another initiative developed by IKEA was “Enterprise” which was launched by
the company in order to develop the employees. In the words of Knies et al. (2017)
the difference of the initiative from the other programmes is that the particular
initiative focused more on the recruitment of talented individuals working at IKEA. At
the same time, Akbağ, Küçüktepe and Özmercan (2016) provided opinion that this
initiative assisted in the track of the employees so that hiring can be done based on
talents and ensure that training is provided in the programmes that are directed for
the employee development. From the case study, it can be seen that the credit for
the development of the initiatives and its successful implementation can help in the
development of the programmes so that it can contribute to the policies of the
Human Resource Management (Ikea.com 2019).
Therefore, conclusion can be made about the main contributors that lead to
the success of IKEA so that the policies are developed by the human resource
management of the company (Ikea.com 2019). Undertaking the initiatives along with
the programmes for employee development can be considered as a positive
influence on IKEA (Ikea.com 2019). The programmes developed by IKEA can
provide assurance that IKEA can continue with its grow in the industry and ensure
that the initiatives can help in formulating effective employee retention scheme that
can be used to develop employees at the organisation (Ikea.com 2019).
Important cultural elements that promote employee retention and innovation
As stated by Cohen (2017) work place culture can be considered as important
for the retention of the talents of the employees. Along with this, Graban (2016) is of
the opinion that the retention of the employees can assist in the development of an
innovation at workplace so that the performance of the employees can be improved.
Therefore, it can be said that the employee retention policy associated with IKEA
along with the cultural elements can help in the promotion of innovation within
company so that development of IKEA can take place on a large scale (Ikea.com
2019).

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From the evidence of the case study, it can be said that the analysis of the HR
policy can be associated with the development of IKEA and is supported by the
development of a strong and cultural diversity along with creativity (Ikea.com 2019).
It helps in the development of ideas about the evolution of the company and the
employee motivation factors that are associated with the workplace (Ikea.com 2019).
One such factor that is to be taken into consideration is that the emphasis of IKEA
rests on the equality along with the value that is provided by every employee. Hence,
evidence show that the equality plays an important role in the cultural development
and help to promote the employee retention policy associated with IKEA so that
contribution can be made towards its innovation (Ikea.com 2019).
The work culture factor that can be associated with the development of IKEA
points to the fact that each of the employee are encouraged to provide an expression
about the opinions and ideas that are directly involved for the development of top-
level managers (Ikea.com 2019). According to Albrecht et al. (2015), it can be
considered as a manner in which effective motivational factor can be made so that
development of the confidence between the employees can take place. It provides
the employees with an opportunity to be involved as a part of the organisation.
Hence, from the analysis of the case study, it can be said that the empowerment of
the employees is considered as an effective cultural element which is promoted by
IKEA (Ikea.com 2019).
Apart from this the research has identified the flexibility that exists in the
company. IKEA helps the employees to provide time for interaction with the family
members to encourage proper work life balance for the employees (Ikea.com 2019).
The need for IKEA is to analyse and ensure that the company provide the
employees with opportunities for proper interaction with the family members
(Ikea.com 2019). According to Ruck, Welch and Menara (2017), this can be
established from the fact that IKEA helps to provide flexible working hours and
promote a sense of cultural diversity at the workplace. This can help in the
development of the retention policy of the organisation (Ikea.com 2019).
Hence, it can be concluded that cultural implication associated with IKEA is
usually attributed to the development of the human resource policies which help in
gaining effective results for the employees (Ikea.com 2019). Therefore, it can be said

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that the cultural elements for the development of IKEA can be considered as one of
the most important aspects for the development of IKEA so that every employee
development within the company can be made and help in the effectiveness for
achieving its success (Ikea.com 2019).
Discussion
From the analysis associated with the effectiveness of human resource
management policies at IKEA and the impact it has on the employees, evidence can
be gained about the manner in which the company can flourish mainly due to the
development of the human resource management policies. The development every
employee can be understood based on the responses to the changes that take place
at IKEA. According to Mann and Harter (2016), for IKEA to maintain its success,
necessity is that the company considers the policies that are related to its human
resource practise. This can give support for the development of the organisation and
at the same time make sure that every employee development factor which exists
can help in the development of the company. Hence, the reason behind IKEA for
being an important part of the furniture manufacturing industry is that of the
development of the HR policies (Ikea.com 2019).
An example can be provided that provides evidence about the best and
unique policy adopted by the human resource management of IKEA. It provides the
employees with an analysis of the factor which allow every employee with an
opportunity to remain at work based on flexible time shift (Ikea.com 2019). Hence, it
can be considered that an effective development of the company can take place
based on the manner in which retention of the employees are undertaken so that
proper motivational factors can be imposed (Ikea.com 2019). Additionally, it can be
seen that the equality which is maintained at the company can help IKEA in the
development of its context of recruitment in an effective manner (Ikea.com 2019).
Hence, it can be said that for the development of IKEA and the employees the
main consideration need to be the motivation factors so that the performance of the
employees can be improved (Ikea.com 2019). Additionally, it can be said that for
IKEA the fact that the organisation provides the assistance to the employees need to
prioritise the fact that customers are equally important (Ikea.com 2019). Hence,

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every relatable factor can help in the development of IKEA and ensure that the
employees be attributed to provide the necessary support required for the
development of the employees at the organisation (Ikea.com 2019). Hence, the work
culture development of the company can be considered as another contributing
factor for the development human resource management policy of IKEA (Ikea.com
2019).
An important aspect that can be considered for the development of an
effective human resource management policy at IKEA can be the fact that the
company need to provide a suitable working condition for the employees so that it
can help in its growth and development (Ikea.com 2019). It is also necessary to take
into consideration the factors, which help in developing the talents of the employees
along with the work culture aspects that are associated with the development of
IKEA. It can help IKEA to retain employees for innovativeness (Ikea.com 2019).
IKEA can also continue to develop the employees so that support can be provided
and received from the employees that help to enhance the career inside or outside
the organisation (Ikea.com 2019).
Along with this, evidence from the case study shows that IKEA is considered
as an important company which has been involved in the development of the
programmes which can help in developing the employees (Ikea.com 2019). Each of
the employees that exist in IKEA consists of the ability to remain flexible so that they
can work in different sectors (Ikea.com 2019).
It can be seen from the analysis that the result of the employee development
programme has been successful as it has led IKEA to provide assistance in
managing and helping the growth of the employees by 10-15% and have gained
positive responses from the changes that has been undertaken (Ikea.com 2019).
This also provides evidence about the fact that cultural elements like that of the
method required for promoting flexibility among the employees as well as the
reduction of the labour cost provides IKEA with assistance related with the
development of the company (Ikea.com 2019). However, risks and constraints can
exist at IKEA that pertain to development of the HR policies which are required to be
solved so that effective development of the company can take place (Ikea.com
2019).

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Conclusion and recommendation
Based on the analysis, it can be seen that IKEA is one of the best companies
that help in maintaining an effective support system for the employees. It also
ensures that customer satisfaction is maintained for the company. However, the
development of the human resource policy can lead to a negative impact that is
based on the development of a company due to the responses provided by the
employees. Therefore, it can be seen that for IKEA to develop as a successful
organisation, various recommended actions can be provided for the company to
ensure continuing success based on the development of its employees.
IKEA can be found in every country and it can be seen that the development
of HR policies require consideration about the development of varied interest among
the employees which can be attributed with the fact that IKEA is capable of providing
and promoting employee development programmes. It can help in the development
of the company despite the existence of political forces that may hinder the
development of the programmes and the initiatives for the training of the employees.
Thus, IKEA may fail to gain the proper response from the employees.
Additionally, it can be seen that for IKEA it is necessary that the development
of its human resource policy can be made to maintain the trust of the employees.
This can help in ensuring the effective changes within the employees and at the
same time enhance the job position which can be analysed. Along with this, IKEA
also need to understand the various policies which can help IKEA to try and mitigate
the issues which can be related for developing work place culture.
It is also considered that for IKEA to maintain its development it is essential to
ensure that every employee can be credited on the development programmes so
that every employee can consider to have an effective growth within the
organisation. The equality policy of the employees needs to be changed by
motivated employees with an opportunity to gain incentive and ensure that promotion
takes place. It can help in motivating the employment performances and ensure that
every employee in the company take into consideration similar principles that can
help in the management of successful people. Therefore, conclusion can be drawn
that can help in the effectiveness of the human resource management policy at IKEA

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HRM
so that responsibility for the growth and development of the employees can be
conducted in an effective manner.

21
HRM
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