Overall, IKEA’s success in its worldwide expansion suggests that its talent management strategies have been adequate to past needs. With that said, it does not necessarily follow all of the steps of talent management as defined by Mercer, which may lead to difficulties. The company has a well-established imperative and understanding of workforce gaps and risks, working to fill them. It engages in a talent development strategy, recruiting workers and training them to fill roles they suit best, and uses all of the people practices and programs described. However, the company’s recruitment approach is to make decisions based on their values and beliefs rather than abilities or talents. Hence, the talent implications, demand, and supply steps are omitted, which may harm IKEA’s performance. Moreover, with its egalitarian approach, difficulties may emerge during talent development that also need to be addressed.
To understand market implications, IKEA will need to formulate its strategic objectives and determine what competencies it needs to achieve them. Wilcox (2016) provides the example of international expansion, which can benefit strongly from the presence of workers that can speak the language of the country and understand its market dynamics. IKEA’s current model does not account for such needs, and these skills are challenging to develop in existing employees. Based on the implications and the current needs of the company, it can also determine its talent demand and possibly incorporate it in the hiring process. Lee (2018) notes that the belief that low-skilled positions, which include IKEA shop workers, do not need talent and can be trained is fallacious. Employees with affinities for the positions they will be occupying will ultimately perform better than their less well-suited counterparts.
Once the talent that the company needs has been determined, it can analyze the talent supply. As Rothwell, Arnold, and Evans (2019) state, this task is best accomplished by focusing on the abilities required for the company and conducting research in the population regarding the presence of the corresponding skills. A market research company will likely need to be hired for the second purpose, as IKEA is unlikely to have the necessary competencies and resources. These analytics should be collected for both the short and the long term to shape the business’s HR policy for the future. Ultimately, the company should understand the results it can produce by both promoting employees internally and hiring external ones and make hiring and promotion decisions based on this knowledge.
IKEA’s current HR strategy involves evaluating employees for performance and potential and assigning training and promotions to the most capable ones. With that said, it views all employees as equal, which has led to legal issues before due to alleged discrimination (IBS Center for Management Research, 2020). As Collings, Mellahi, and Cascio (2017) note, these two approaches are contradictory as the talent development strategy explicitly focuses on the differences between workers when choosing whom to train. The court case may be seen as an inevitable extension of this problem, with the company alleging equality without practicing it. To overcome this issue, Collings, Mellahi, and Cascio (2017) recommend focusing on fairness and transparency, acknowledging that differences exist between employees, and ensuring that everyone understands the process by which career growth can be secured. By adopting this approach, IKEA can retain its talent development approach while improving its results and avoiding legal issues.
Reference List
Collings, D. G., Mellahi, K. and Cascio, W. F. (eds.) (2017) The Oxford handbook of talent management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
IBS Center for Management Research (2020) IKEA’s talent management and corporate culture. Web.
Lee, T. R. (2018) Entrepreneurial management theory and practice: with cases of Taiwanese business. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Company.
Rothwell, A., Arnold, J. and Evans, M. (2019) From talent management to talent liberation: a practical guide for professionals, managers and leaders. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis.
Wilcox, M. (2016) Effective talent management: aligning strategy, people and performance. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis.