Archived Target Should Learn From IKEA

[TiedAndDropped]

Looks like increasing retail peon pay is working for IKEA.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/27/1396143/-Ikea-raises-its-minimum-wage-Again?showAll=yes

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Good read!

 

[PassinTime]

Yes, good read

 

[oath2order]

What they hours like

 

[TiedAndDropped]

What they hours like

A very good question, that I didn't consider when I made the post. Does anybody know what IKEA hours are like?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Their stores hours are from 10am to 8pm.

 

[SFSFun]

They would have to be getting decent hours for this to work.

Good pay plus shitty hours does not equal low turnover.

 

[oath2order]

Their stores hours are from 10am to 8pm.

that's not what I meant

 

[sigma7]

Most Lowe's get around 5000+ hours. No idea on IKEA, but there's some frame of reference.

 

[DoWork]

Two friends work at ikea. They get 40 hours, but they're staffed poorly at the store.

 

[Backroomkeycarrier]

Some northern california stores just got raises mich higher than the minimum wage yet team members still complain about it. They are actually makong more money than other similar positions at other retailers in the area.

 

[Signkitty]

This can be our new holiday add campagin.

 

[signingminion]

This can be our new holiday add campagin.

That is fabulous.

 

[redeye58]

Dan? Is that YOU?!

 

[chaiknees]

A very good question, that I didn't consider when I made the post. Does anybody know what IKEA hours are like?

Former IKEA Co-Worker chiming in: Sales Floor hours were f/t 8 hours, opening, a mid-shift and closing. P/t would have the same shifts available at around 6.5 hrs. Stores tied hours granted according to store budget; if volume was low, hours would get cut but back-to-school time and new catalog release, hours would bump back up. It's been about 2 yrs since I've been there, but generally the scheduling has followed this pattern.

 

[jenna]

Former IKEA Co-Worker chiming in: Sales Floor hours were f/t 8 hours, opening, a mid-shift and closing. P/t would have the same shifts available at around 6.5 hrs. Stores tied hours granted according to store budget; if volume was low, hours would get cut but back-to-school time and new catalog release, hours would bump back up. It's been about 2 yrs since I've been there, but generally the scheduling has followed this pattern.

What did you do when you worked at Ikea? Did you work the same schedule each week, or did the shifts change?

Favorite thing about working there? Least favorite?

 

[chaiknees]

What did you do when you worked at Ikea? Did you work the same schedule each week, or did the shifts change?

Favorite thing about working there? Least favorite?

IKEA Lifers (those that end up staying with the company forever) will attest to the strong work/life balance they offered. Mind you, this was all before the economy tanking and the subsequent build-out boom of new stores. I liked the people who worked there, and coming from airlines customer service, you could not blame out-of-stock items on weather delays or missing crew members. Schedules were the same each week, and opportunities to swap out your shift were available. Shifts could changed based "on the needs of the operation" /eye-roll. High volume furniture retail was very similar to general merchandising retailing; just that we sold one type of item from Sweden.

Favorite thing was the $3 employee meal. Yes, you did eventually tire of the 50c hot-dogs, $1 frozen cone treats and Swedish meatballs, but not having to worry about forgetting to pack a lunch, and having it as a benefit, made life a little easier. Other favorite things, were the fifteen (or was it twenty?) per-cent off employee discount which stacked nicely with things from the as-is area of the store. All the walking and steps needed to get around the gargantuan layout. And building display items were pretty fun.

Least favorite: they became part of regular ol' retail, implimenting rules and policies that I've seen discussed around this website, which made the 'magic' of working with Big Blue not as fun.

 

[thatcashierdude]

Least favorite: they became part of regular ol' retail, implimenting rules and policies that I've seen discussed around this website, which made the 'magic' of working with Big Blue not as fun.

Examples of said rules/policies?

 

[daninnj]

Dan? Is that YOU?!

Sorry, I'm not that fabulous.

 

[redeye58]

Doesn't look like he's wearing red heels any way....

 

[chaiknees]

Examples of said rules/policies?

It's been awhile, but ones that stuck out were the Co-worker evaluations that no one could score perfect as home management always stated every co-worker is always in need of improvement (paraphrasing). Attendance became a point of contention, even so much to implement a points-based attendance system (half points, quarter points, all this after I left) which we like de-merit credits. It was best described as store policy becoming just like any retail store management policies.