How IKEA Empowers 170,000 Co-workers (Without Losing Culture)

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Alejandra Piñol, Deputy Chief HR Officer at IKEA, to explore how one of the world’s most iconic brands keeps its culture alive while transforming at global scale. Alejandra opens up about leading through rapid change and protecting the company’s unique values across more than 170,000 co-workers and 60 countries.

She shares how IKEA empowers its frontline teams through trust and autonomy, and how simplicity has become the foundation of their HR transformation. Alejandra explains the importance of listening to co-workers, building leaders from within, and keeping people, not process, at the heart of every decision.

From balancing consistency and local relevance to nurturing humility and belonging, this episode is a blueprint for scaling culture without losing your soul.

🎓 In this episode, Alejandra discusses:

1. Balancing global culture with local flexibility
2. Building humble, values-driven leaders from within
3. Simplifying HR so leaders can focus on people, not process
4. Protecting IKEA’s values while scaling across 60+ countries
5. Empowering frontline co-workers through trust and autonomy

🙏‍ Thanks you to our series partner - Workhuman

Discover how to Build Human-Centred Workplaces which Thrive! → https://www.workhuman.com/resources/reports-guides/the-human-centred-workplace-building-organisational-cultures-that-thrive-emea/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.