Tugba Åkesson on Values-First Hiring and Culture at IKEA
In this episode of Hiring Excellence, Johnny Campbell speaks with Tugba Åkesson, Vice President and Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Ingka Group (IKEA). Together, they explore how IKEA’s unique approach to hiring, rooted in values rather than transactions, has helped preserve the company’s culture as it scales to more than 31 markets and 574 locations worldwide.
From its beginnings in Småland, Sweden, IKEA’s story has always been about resilience, togetherness, and doing business for the many. Those same principles now shape how Tugba and her team recruit tens of thousands of people every year, from in-store staff to digital experts, without losing sight of what makes IKEA feel like home.
1. Values Before Everything Else
For IKEA, recruitment is far more than filling roles. It is about safeguarding the company’s DNA.
“Recruitment is not only about filling positions quickly or making it transactional,” Tugba explains. “It is about actually building and safeguarding our strong culture. Our first principle is values-based recruitment.”
Every hiring decision begins with alignment to IKEA’s core values before skills or technology come into play. Recruiters and hiring managers are trained to interview for values, ensuring that each new coworker adds to, rather than dilutes, the culture.
Tugba believes this approach builds stronger teams that are more engaged, committed, and aligned with IKEA’s purpose. It leads to better performance, higher retention, and, ultimately, happier coworkers and customers.
2. The Testament of a Furniture Dealer: A Living Compass
A foundational part of IKEA’s culture is The Testament of a Furniture Dealer, written by founder Ingvar Kamprad.
“It’s like a compass for us,” Tugba says. “If I’m in a dilemma in my daily work, I can always go back to that testament. It helps me see how we solve things and think as a company.”
The document emphasizes long-term enjoyment, both in the products IKEA designs and in the experiences of its people.
As Tugba puts it, “Business and people agendas are the same.” Employees are encouraged to feel at home, grow within the company, and find both personal and professional fulfillment.
This philosophy shows that for IKEA, business performance and employee wellbeing are deeply connected.
3. Blending Technology With the Human Touch
While many organizations are automating recruitment with AI, IKEA takes a more balanced approach.
“We blend technology with the human touch,” Tugba explains. “Speed should never come at the expense of quality.”
Rather than replacing human judgment, technology serves as an enabler. IKEA’s recruitment teams have piloted values-based pre-screening tools that help identify candidates who share the company’s principles early in the process. Recruiters then conduct in-depth, human-led interviews to ensure those values are lived, not just listed.
This model saves time while keeping the experience personal, allowing candidates to feel IKEA’s culture firsthand and decide if it is truly a place where they can belong.
4. The Recruiter as a Guardian of Culture
At IKEA, recruiters are more than talent finders. They are gatekeepers and guardians of culture.
“Our recruiters play an extremely key role,” Tugba says. “They are the gatekeepers and safeguarders of our culture and values through meeting candidates.”
To help them embody this responsibility, IKEA invites many of its hiring teams to a cultural immersion experience in Älmhult, Sweden, the birthplace of the company. There, recruiters participate in hands-on activities that reflect IKEA’s founding values of togetherness, simplicity, and hard work.
As Tugba describes, “It’s something you can feel, experience, and live. It’s not abstract, it’s real.”
This immersion deepens each recruiter’s understanding of what the values mean in practice, empowering them to bring authenticity into every interview.
5. Scaling Culture Across 31 Markets
With 51,000 hires each year, scaling a values-first approach is no small task.
“Scaling a values-first approach across hundreds of stores and 31 markets is no small challenge,” Tugba admits. “But our teams do a fantastic job of holding onto our values, even when the talent pool is tight.”
IKEA now uses technology to complement its human-led recruitment process, leveraging automation to pre-screen for values fit and free up recruiters to spend more time on meaningful conversations.
This ensures consistency across markets and creates a fairer, more inclusive process where potential is never overlooked.
Tugba shares one example:
A candidate with little retail experience had applied multiple times without success. During the pilot, the new values assessment identified a strong cultural fit. The recruiter interviewed them, the hiring manager agreed, and the candidate was hired—a perfect match who might have been missed before.
Conclusion: A Home, Not Just a Workplace
For Tugba Åkesson, IKEA’s mission is clear: to build a company where people do not just work, they belong.
By combining values-based recruitment with thoughtful use of technology, IKEA ensures every hire contributes to a culture rooted in authenticity, togetherness, and care.
“If you’re happy in a place, you will perform better, understand better, and contribute better,” Tugba says. “AI can help us, but our compass will always remain our values.”
Want more conversations like this? Listen to the full Hiring Excellence episode with Tugba Åkesson, or explore more expert-led insights at SocialTalent.com!
