Doing More With Less: Part 4

IKEA Canada's vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people, and naturally, great design, quality, and affordability are key. But what does “affordability” really mean? Last fall, Selwyn Crittendon, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer at IKEA Canada, gathered some of Canada’s top finance experts to discuss what it means to do more with less.  

Panel guests included moderator Bianca Freedman, Chief Executive Officer at Edelman Canada; Shannon Lee Simmons, founder of the New School of Finance and personal finance writer for the Globe and Mail; Nathan Kennedy, content creator and host of the podcast “New Money with Nathan Kennedy,” and Rachel Wong, co-founder of Monday Girl, Canada's leading network for professional women. 

The jury is in, and the verdict is unanimous: it’s becoming too expensive to live. Canadians are cutting back by putting off major purchases, hunting for sales, moving back home to save on rent, and using food banks in ever increasing numbers.  

“It’s a big issue,” says Selwyn Crittendon CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer IKEA Canada. “It's not just groceries. It's in all industries right now.” It’s safe to say that customers have had enough. “They speak up loudly. And corporations are feeling that,” he says. “We have to take action.”

But what does that look like? For Shannon Lee Simmons, it starts with meaningful wages and job security. “The cost of living just continues to rise, and inflation is bananas,” she says. “I've been doing this for 16-plus years, and the starting salaries were the same as today. And I can tell you that rent was not. And housing was not.”

It’s hard to argue wages that are in step with inflation, but if that’s not doable, says Nate Kennedy, businesses have other options, including one that doesn’t cost a cent. “Listen to your employees,” he says. “Listen to them and find out what they actually need.”

Kennedy suggests collecting insights via a survey. “Ask them, ‘What is your biggest struggle? How can we help you in your personal life?” He thinks this strategy has more value than the standard company benefits packages “that most people only use 10 to 20 percent of.”   

When it comes to identifying key issues for employees, Crittendon is all ears. “We want to hear from our co-workers,” he says, as evidenced by IKEA’s recent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion survey. “What do they need? Where do they want IKEA to be in the future? And how do we embody that?”

Crittendon knows the initiative’s success relies on employees feeling empowered to be part of the decision-making process. That’s where the IKEA Co-Worker Resource Groups (CRGs) come in. Crittendon calls them “a wonderful opportunity for co-workers to speak up and out.”  

Rachel Wong can’t say enough about co-worker resource groups. “We've seen phenomenal connections— and also progress— from those CRGs,” she says, likening them to internal networking. “You are really building those relationships and connections with co-workers.”

But simply having CRGs isn’t enough. They need to be backed up. “To really be that ally versus just saying you have these groups,” she says, “there’s a very clear difference.”  

To boost CRG success, IKEA holds meetings and activities during the day. Even then, not every co-worker can step away from their regular duties to take part.

Crittendon doesn’t pretend to have all the answers but says it’s vital to have leaders at all levels of the organization who are listening, looking, and engaging, and he always tries to make himself accessible. “Every co-worker has an opportunity to send me an e-mail, send me a text, " he says. “I'll answer back.”

Lee Smith admits that improving life for people in the community, including those who have unconventional housing arrangements is a big topic, and concedes that money is with the corporations. If corporations can get on board with policy that impacts this demographic, “then we have a solution that might be financially viable and faster than something coming from a public policy point of view,” she says.  

Pointing to the corporate trend of “people, planet, profit,” Lee Smith muses that if the ‘people’ part could become an actual value—not just people within the company, but the social impact outside the company as well, perhaps it could become part of the corporate mandate.

Habitat for Humanity is a prime example. Another way to create action, says Bianca Freeman, is to target companies that align with your values, companies for whom housing makes sense from a business standpoint.  

Are companies listening? Crittendon believes so. “I think you'll start seeing more brands speaking up and being vocal about what they're doing,” he says. “People no longer want to shop with brands that don’t give back.”  

This is the 4th and final post of our Doing More with Less Series. We hope you enjoyed the topics, insights, and reflections we explored and that we have inspired you to live more sustainably for a greener future!