50/50 Gender Share by Store Managers
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In 2014, we reached a balanced binary gender share among our store managers* for the first time, and we have maintained it since then.
*Store managers have the full responsibility of the people and the result of their store.
At IKEA, we believe diverse teams perform better, so we strive to reflect societal diversity. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion are embedded in our culture and values. We focus on equal opportunities and fair treatment, aiming for a 50/50 binary gender balance in leadership roles. We provide unconscious bias training for leaders and encourage them to challenge biases. Both women and men are offered opportunities to work as deputy store managers.
When we opened our 10th store in Switzerland in April 2024, we achieved a 50/50 gender balance among our store managers. IKEA Switzerland has maintained a balanced gender share in this role for a decade and we are confident that it has contributed to our improved business results. Today, nearly 50% of our co-workers have a female manager, 50% of our applications are from women, and 53% of our planned successors for management positions are female. Women in leadership have become the new normal.
This Best Practice was first published in the Gender Intelligence Report 2024.
In the early days, we faced the challenge of having an unbalanced gender share among our store managers. We were early committed to gender equality as we knew that diversity was not just anchored in our culture and values but also a fantastic business opportunity. Our goal was clear: a 50/50 gender share in all leadership positions. Over the years, the gender share among our store managers has regularly changed, sometimes in favor of men and sometimes in favor of women. The important thing is always to strive to keep the balance.
Over three decades ago, IKEA Global embarked on a mission to achieve a 50/50 gender balance in leadership roles across all countries. The reason was simple: IKEA wants to mirror society to better understand our customer needs and to make good business decisions – equality is good for people and business!
At IKEA, we are committed to fair treatment and equal opportunities, creating an environment where everyone can be themselves. Our managers are dedicated to achieving a 50/50 gender balance in leadership, supported by goal letters. We recruit based on values and development potential, with long-term succession planning, fast-tracking of talents, and a diverse organizational structure with multiple career paths that are key to achieving and sustaining our diversity goals. We invest in future leaders through coaching, mentoring, and training and have key female leaders leading by example. To retain talent, we offer flexible solutions like extended maternity leave, temporary project assignments, and part-time, allowing our people to balance their professional and personal lives. From 2014 to 2023, our EDGE certification helped us focus on gender equality, using data to drive progress and identify areas for improvement.
“At IKEA, diversity is a business imperative. Achieving a 50/50 gender balance among store managers has fostered inclusivity and driven business success. Equality benefits both people and business.”
Marco Ruina, Head of Retail Operation at IKEA Switzerland
“A 50/50 gender balance among store managers reflects our commitment to equality and inclusion. Equal opportunities create a stronger, more successful organization.”
Ina Rhöös, responsible for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at IKEA Switzerland
Our efforts have resulted in having a quite balanced binary gender share among the store managers for a decade. We are confident that this has had a positive impact on our results, impacted co-worker engagement, reduced our staff turnover, and led to stronger overall leadership. We have once again seen the strength of having a goal that is followed up on. What gets measured gets done. Our value-based recruitment and having zero tolerance for excluding behaviors have helped us a lot in fostering an inclusive culture. Our constant communication about equality, that we strive to provide equal opportunities and fair treatment, and securing that equality is embedded in all people’s policies & practices are all important factors for achieving our goals.
We’re proud of the steps we’ve taken so far and are committed to improving our approach to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion even further.
In our commitment to gender equality, we also focus on enhancing equality for our male colleagues. For decades, we’ve offered two weeks of parental leave. In 2017, we extended this to six weeks, recognizing the importance of supporting new fathers. In 2020, we advocated for the implementation of parental leave in Swiss law, and when it was enacted in January 2021, we increased our parental leave to eight weeks of fully paid leave. This benefit has seen universal uptake among our new fathers, with 100% taking parental leave, highlighting the impact of a supportive culture. Additionally, the flexibility to take the leave up to a year after birth and to split it according to family needs has increased participation and made tracking more challenging. This underscores the importance of adaptable benefits in fostering true inclusion.
For more information about this Best Practice, reach out to the author:
Ina Rhöös
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Leader, IKEA Switzerland
ina.rhoeoes@ingka.ikea.com
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