HR Grapevine Advent Calendar: Why is IKEA giving its workers £1,200 each?

IKEA, the Swedish retailer famous for its flatpack furniture, is gifting each of its employees with hundreds of pounds – regardless of rank.

Although the employees themselves probably won’t be asking too many questions and will just be happy to be £1,200 richer, others outside the organisation may be a bit more inquisitive.

IKEA’s generosity is all part of the company’s loyalty scheme known as ‘Tack!’ (or ‘Thanks!’ for those that don’t speak Swedish). Full-time employees who have been with the business for over five years, regardless of job titles or location, will receive the lump sum in their pensions pot as long as pre-agreed global sales targets are reached.

The benefits programme was launched three years ago and is just one of many ways IKEA is consciously investing in its people.

In a statement issued last month, IKEA UK announced that it has experienced its fifth consecutive year of sales growth with an increase of 8.9% on the previous year, and that it is continuing to invest in creating jobs and paying fair salaries.

In the financial year IKEA created 1,700 jobs – taking the total number of UK employees to 10,000.

The company also committed to paying the real Living Wage to all its co-workers and became an accredited Living Wage Foundation employer and a principal partner. Overall, this represented an £11.5million investment.

Gillian Drakeford, Country Retail Manager at IKEA UK, says that this “makes good business sense”.

She continues: “We know that happy co-workers will bring happy customers. Investing in our people is crucial to motivating and retaining our co-workers, as well as attracting new talent.”