How HR Can Lead the AI Revolution (Before It’s Too Late) (Copy)

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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

Discover how to Build Human-Centred Workplaces which Thrive!

Workhuman partnered with Gallup to decode why only 33% of U.S. employees feel engaged and what leaders can do about it.

The answer? Recognition done right.

When companies build flexible work, psychological safety, and authentic appreciation, engagement soars.

The research shows recognition:
✅ Boosts retention
✅ Fuels feedback cultures
✅ Elevates wellbeing
✅ Powers upskilling in the AI era

Engagement isn’t chance, it’s design.
The future belongs to organizations that make recognition their competitive edge.

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Alejandra, how are you doing? Ah,

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I am very good. I am

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happy to be here. Yeah. Thank

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You for joining us. Yes, thank you.

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Thank you. And, and you just came off stage?

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Yes. I was in a panel talking about superpower of culture.

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How was it? And it was very good.

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Well, I mean, not very good.

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You're like, you're like, my eye was very good.

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No, no, I didn't mean that,

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but I mean that the topic was really interesting.

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Yeah. The other, uh,

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panelists were very interesting as well.

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And, and it was a, I think having

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a panel about culture values

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and so say so much about the world we are in. So

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I think Yeah. Especially where

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everyone, everywhere else is ai,

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ai, ai. Yes, yes, yes.

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Especially then. Yeah.

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But without the culture, you lose all of that, right? Yes.

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Yes. You, along the way, what was one

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of your key takeaways from the conversation?

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What was something someone said that really

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Yeah. Resonated

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for me? For me, the three of us,

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we were three panelists, we're very much, uh, uh,

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emphasizing the importance of culture and values nowadays.

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Mm-hmm. Uh, and that is something I would say we need to,

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to take with us, especially in this AI world.

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Yeah. And also in the world.

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We are living now with challenges, with opportunities, with,

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uh, shaking things and, and things that are more settled.

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So I think that is our compass. Yeah. I would say.

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But, but why is that so important?

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First, I think the world needs values.

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Uh, that is my personal thought.

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Uh, then I think that having a very rooted, solid, uh, uh,

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beautiful performance driven values, it's like a compass

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that can guide you.

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What with whatever you do,

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can guide you in different moments,

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can guide you in very happy moments,

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can guide you in the show.

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You lead the business in the, in the way you, you interact

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with customers, in the way you show up, uh,

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in the way you deal with, uh, challenging times.

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It's a very, it's a very solid compass.

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Yeah. How do you, uh, protect

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ikea's culture when we have so much technology

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and transformation, things are moving so fast.

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Yeah. How do you make sure you retain

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those values and that culture? Yeah,

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I, it's a very good question

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because it's, it's very crucial to,

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to really safeguard your culture and values.

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Yes. And I think for ikea, uh, culture

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and values are two of the most important elements.

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How we do business. We walk the talk, uh,

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we have eight values,

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and the eight values are set by the founder, uh,

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longer than 80 years ago.

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So they are very solid.

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They are still very, uh, actual values.

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They have been a little bit, uh, uh, updated,

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but they are still the values of ikea.

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And, and these values are not just, uh,

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a values in a piece of paper.

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Uh, they are embedded in everything we do.

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So one thing we do in Ikea very much

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is we recruit by values.

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We recruit by values and potential, not just qualifications.

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Mm. So at the end of the day, it's very important.

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Maybe you don't have all the qualifications we need,

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but you have very strong values. You have potential.

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You can learn the rest. You can

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Learn the rest. Yeah. Uh, because

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values will write you

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and your potential will maximize you.

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So that is very important.

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We also, uh, once per year,

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we upskill all our recruiters in culture

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and values, uh, in how to recruit by values.

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And recruiters have a very important role here

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because they are the ones, recruiters

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and leaders, the ones recruiting people.

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Then we have also the values embedded in the core

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of our leadership idea.

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So the leadership idea is built on the values. Yeah.

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And, and also in our performance management,

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we have the goals and objective and the values

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and leadership and the values have more weight than

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the, than the than.

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Wow. So there are a lot of things around it.

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And by the way, we have eight values and the values are you,

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I was about to say, I, I wasn't gonna ask you

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to memorize all of them,

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but if you do, then great. I can mention

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Some of them. Yeah. I

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do wanna put you on

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the spot and say, what's all eight?

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Because I would be, I would be like, what are some

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of the ones that really, you know, stand out?

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Yeah. It's simplicity.

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'cause consciousness really wanna improve

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different with a meaning.

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Uh, lead by example, collaborate and co-create.

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So they are very, they are values that are very human

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and very business driven.

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So it's, it's, it has a very good balance. Yeah.

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And my favorite value is leadership by example.

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Because coming back to your question about the culture, uh,

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the best way to make the values a living

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reality is to live them.

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And every single person in IKEA needs to live the values.

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Whatever you do has an impact.

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And whatever you don't do also has an impact.

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So yeah, it's very important to lead by example.

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Have you done any work? Really random question,

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but I love the conversation.

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Have you done any work around connecting

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values to people's purpose?

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In terms of my per like, my purpose? Yes.

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'cause I, I 'cause I think one of the things

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that companies sometimes miss is

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how do you connect the value with every employee?

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Yeah. And what's important and, and my work

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and what, what, and me personally.

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Yeah. Is that something you looked at yet? Yes.

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Well, uh, now what? Yes. Yes, yes.

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I don't know if I'll answer exactly the question, but Yes.

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I would say yes because, uh, values, as I said

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before, they are in the core of the leadership idea.

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And the leadership idea we have has evolved over time.

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So a couple of year back,

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we have done a shift in leadership,

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and we go from leadership by, by the few to leadership

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by all, and leadership

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by the few at the end is managerial leadership.

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So we were before only managers, were leaders.

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Now we believe everyone is a leader. Yeah.

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So that is a big shift that we did.

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And with this, everyone is a leader.

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Uh, uh, we are defining seven leadership expectations also

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based on the values.

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But one thing that it's, uh, very crucial

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to this idea is that it starts with me. Okay,

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Great. So every

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expectation starts with I, yes.

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I develop the business, I collaborate, I lead by example.

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So this eye also triggers and, and, and,

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and links the values and the, and the company expectations.

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And so with myself,

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because at the end, uh, who is the company,

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it's a sum of each of us.

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And each of us have a purpose.

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If at, if each of us, uh, wants to deliver, wants

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to be happy, wants to,

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so it's very important the changes

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start from each of us. So

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Yeah. Yeah. No, I love, I love

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I love that point.

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I think it's important. 'cause

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sometimes we miss the individual.

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Yeah. Yes. What does it mean for me? Yes. But yeah.

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And, but I also love that you, you, you've communicated

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that this is to start with you.

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Yes. This isn't something that we own every single,

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every individual, and every leader owns culture.

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Yes. Everyone. Yes. Not a function. No, no,

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No, no, no.

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Everyone owns a culture. Yeah. Yeah. And everything.

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And if you show up through, through the values,

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but if you show up, you are giving a message.

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And if you keep silence, you are also giving a message.

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So, eh, we, we have an impact. We have an influence.

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Each of us. It's not hr or it's not only managers. No.

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Everyone has an impact. Yeah.

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Why is culture such a competitive advantage?

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I think having a, a strong culture, uh, it's,

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it's a, it's building, I don't know, a safe environment.

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When you can be yourself, when you can thrive, you can, uh,

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you know, also intel in, in moments of, of, uh, dilemmas.

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And in, in tough moments. Also in good moments.

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But in, in those moments that you don't know what

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to do if you go to your culture and,

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and you know, you are not alone.

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You are together. Yeah. It's a shared, uh, sure. Uh, yes.

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For me, culture needs to be,

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or for Ikea as well, uh, completely inclusive.

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Uh, we believe in inclusion a lot. Yeah.

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Uh, we think we want an environment

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where everyone can be themself, where you feel safe,

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where you don't have to pretend you don't have

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to do a second job too.

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Yeah. You need to be yourself.

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And in a recent, uh, survey we did, uh, internal survey, 84%

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of the people of our coworkers said

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that they can be themselves at work.

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Nice. And that for us is, we are very happy with that.

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But we are still in the way because 84 is not enough. Yeah,

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I know enough. So,

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But for us, it's so important.

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This inclusive part is in this culture, I can be myself,

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I can be my best version, and I am not alone.

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And, and we are together here too. Yeah. Yeah.

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For me, culture

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Is, I understand. And I

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think, um, when you do that, yes.

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When you create that psychological safety Yes. Right.

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That's where the innovation comes from. Yes. Yes.

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That's where people wanna go above and beyond. Yes. Yes.

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Because they feel safe. Yes.

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You know, they, if they fail that, that's okay.

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We move, we learn and we move on. Right? Yes.

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And that's where the business competitive advantage Yes.

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Comes from. Yes. Yes. When everyone feels

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that they can be theirselves and push Yes.

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To do that. Yes. But listen,

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thank you so much for coming on.

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Yes. Thank you. And know, and I know you came last minute,

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so Ire, I appreciate you.

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Thank you. Uh, thank,

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congratulations to you and the team so far.

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Yeah. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of the event. Yes.

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I'll see you soon. All right. Yes. Thank you.

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Thank you very much. Thank you.

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