I started my first shift at IKEA today in the IFS (IKEA Food Services) department which handles the restaurant, bistro, snack shop, and customer service.
My to and from drive to the IKEA store in Richmond today was more tiring than the actual shift itself… and that’s not including the fatigue I incurred by getting lost and stuck in Delta for half an hour on the way home.
I didn’t do much at IKEA today because it was orientation day. I spent 4 hours walking around the store meeting all the department managers and staff, filling out a shit load of paper work, and going through the usual “this is our company culture and how we do things here, if you don’t follow it we will fire you” kind of lesson thing along with a safety lesson and test at the end.
The one thing though that struck me as very intriguing was the fact that IKEA’s Food Services department is customer-oriented first over profit-oriented. This explains why the food at IKEA is always so cheap yet good quality.
Instead of selling overpriced food (like just about every other food selling business out there) IKEA aims to provide a good experience for the customer before anything else. In turn, by satisfying the customers, they would be more likely to come back again and buy more furniture. It’s such a simple and brilliant way of doing business, I love it.
After my shift at IKEA today, while lining up to get my staff meal dinner of what-the-hell-I-want for $4.00, I ran into a young man named Igor and his girlfriend Veronica who started talking to me because of a certain file folder I was using to carry my papers from orientation. Based on his appearance I assumed he was just a young teenage anime fan, but once we sat down with our food and started talking, I found out that Veronica wasn’t his girlfriend but his wife and he’s a computer engineer who works for Microsoft in Vancouver (I will never judge someone based one their appearance ever again). We had a nice chat then exchanged Facebook before going our separate ways.
I’m starting to think that leaving university to find a full-time job was a really really good idea.
(picture is somewhat related, if you know the Touhou characters here)
P.S
My grandparents from my mother’s side arrived in Vancouver last night and will be living with me for several years. Why is this important? because this grandpa of mine is the coolest grandpa ever. How so? He taught himself how to use a computer a few years ago and currently has a laptop that is even newer than mine.
So if you follow their culture and the way they do things you’ll get fired?
I think you meant to type if you don’t, lol.
Hope it won’t be too tiring just getting there.
Now you can plan your dollfie *just kidding*.
oh thanks for pointing that out!
…
I will save for my dollfie as soon as I can! though I currently have to buy new furniture for my new room, pay off my credit card fully, and pay for all my incoming figure pre-orders
Their business model is not as simple as it appears on the surface. Without getting into the nitty gritty details, let’s just say that they believe that allowing some loss in the food department is able to provide them a greater overall profit margin.
And yes, looks can be deceiving. Just look at you.
/me runs before OP clicks in on the meaning
I am well aware.
I’m purposely trying to phrase it in a nice/simple way.