When it comes to employee satisfaction, expressing a desire for a greater sense of purpose is the easy part. However, defining what those purpose driven workspaces look like can be much more challenging.

All around the globe, there is more and more research indicating happiness is directly correlated to employees’ sense of purpose in their work. However, there is a bit of chicken and egg dilemma to this issue. Does happiness lead to more meaningful work or vice versa?

Numerous industries are seeing changes in attitudes towards empowering employee purpose, but what is causing the demand, and what value does it bestow on employees?

Discovering an underlying current of purpose in our careers, especially one that has the level of social impact as helping people with debilitating chronic illnesses, is often attributed to positions in the medical field like doctors, nurses, medical scientists, and so forth.

Elizabeth Papasimakis, a Senior Manager of Operations Fermentation, shares her journey of going from working in the family restaurant to working as a lab scientist, and then finally landing her latest roles as a Senior Operations Manager in Production at Novo Nordisk’s DAPI site in Clayton, NC.

Discover Rekha Nair’s career journey as she made the jump from a small biotech company to Novo Nordisk’s stem cell manufacturing site in Fremont, working as a Senior Process Development Scientist

Jennifer Dennis, Global Product Manager of Rare Blood Disorders, currently working at Novo Nordisk in Zurich recounts her journey from interning and working in the Canada affiliate to her 7,000km jump to working out of our offices in Zurich.

Elena Livshina remembers well the times where she’s been the only female at a table full of senior executives.

Anton Ipsen, Digital Innovation Student Worker, qualifies for the 2021 Olympics in the discipline of men’s 800m free swimming

Relocating for work often evokes contradicting emotions of both excitement and apprehension towards the unknown awaiting your personal and professional life. From changes in culture and colleagues, sometimes it takes getting out of one’s comfort zone to allow for the magic of the unexpected to take form.

Lost in a forest, keenly aware of the nearby mountain lion and bear paw prints, and out of water, Eva had to rely on planning, persistence, and mental strength to push through and continue on her five-week, 2,200 km cycle from Seattle to San Francisco.

It wasn’t long ago that Yacine Amirouche, Senior Global Customer Insights Manager at Novo Nordisk, was anxiously waiting to hear if he had been accepted to the graduate programme.

It is in the deepest, darkest moments of one’s life that you find the true character of a soul­. Our response to the unthinkable has the power to crush our spirit or ignite a new purpose greater than we could have ever imagined through such a tragic event.

Working for one of the largest players in the pharmaceutical industry, employees are often asked by external spectators if they genuinely feel that their contribution makes a difference in such a dynamic and complex corporation.

Anne Kaas, International Medical Director at Novo Nordisk works with multinational colleagues and stakeholders from all over the globe, yet still, no matter where she is in the world, when she steps into the Novo offices she says, ''It kind of feels like home.”

Nanja Hedal Kløverpris, Senior Project Manager in Corporate Environmental Strategy has a stance on digital health that stands contrary to the general wave of enthusiasm.

On the 14th of November, we celebrated World Diabetes Day at Novo Nordisk. It is a very meaningful day for us, as we are committed to making a difference for patients living with diabetes. Diabetes hasn’t always been recognised as a global epidemic, though.

Natasha Munhóes Corrêa, Global Project Manager within Global Medical Affairs – Medical Operations has lived in three countries in the past four years, something she’s quick to say she’s super thankful for.

As we adjust to our post-COVID work lives, what affect does all of this have on our mental health? What's the benefit of coming back to the office, what do we need to keep in mind with doing so and what is the ideal workplace for our mental health. We had the chance to speak with Organisational Psychologist here at Novo Nordisk - Nadia El-Salanti - about just that. Check it out in the Q&A below.