In August 2021, our Executive Management committed to a set of diversity and inclusion global aspirational targets for Novo Nordisk, with the belief that this will ensure leadership accountability and drive change. These global aspirational targets include:

• Create an inclusive culture where all employees have a sense of belonging and equitable opportunities to realise their potential
• Achieve a balanced gender representation across all managerial levels
• Achieve a minimum of 45% women and a minimum of 45% men in senior leadership positions by end of 2025¹

For Novo Nordisk, gender balance is defined as the range between 45%-55% to leave up to 10% flexibility for women and men while also allowing for non-binary gender, recognizing that some employees may not wish to be categorised.

“To be clear, we are not happy with our current state. That is why we’ve introduced aspirational targets focused on creating an inclusive culture and achieving gender balance.” Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, President and CEO, Novo Nordisk.

Since we launched the D&I Aspirational Targets at the end of the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2021) we can see the following progress:

• The global “Inclusion Index” is a part of our annual employee engagement survey; it is a numerical indicator of how our employees rate the state of inclusion at Novo Nordisk based on four statements. Of the more than 56,000 employees who completed the survey in 2024, 82% rated the inclusion statements favourable.
• The share of women in leadership positions has increased from 42% to 47% as of Q3 2024.
• The percentage of women in senior leadership positions (defined in Novo Nordisk to include Vice Presidents, Corporate Vice Presidents, Senior Vice Presidents and Executive Presidents) has grown from 35% to 41% as of Q3 2024.

All leaders are expected to serve as role models of inclusive leadership to cultivate workplaces where differences are not only allowed but valued.

To support those efforts, we launched our Inclusive Leadership Principles to provide a clear outline of what inclusive leadership looks like in Novo Nordisk. Those guiding principles apply to leaders, at all levels, meaning that wherever there is an opportunity to lead others, inspire others, or work with others, we have the responsibility for showing up as inclusive leaders.

The six Inclusive Leadership Principles are:

1.     Build diverse teams
2.     Value diverse perspectives
3.     Create psychological safety
4.     Show courageous commitment
5.     Mitigate your bias
6.     Demonstrate cultural awareness

Recognising that inclusive leadership starts with self-awareness, our R&D organisation, decided to take their senior leadership team through a holistic one-year D&I Learning Journey. This journey included training sessions, reverse mentoring, shadow coaching, and executive D&I coaching. Participants were invited to explore how bias, privilege, allyship and an inclusive mindset influence leadership and culture. This training journey led to each leader building their own D&I action plan, ensuring the transition from learning to implementation.

“Throughout this journey, it has become clear that we cannot compromise on D&I. We can only be truly inclusive when D&I is embedded into everything we do. This requires us to adopt a hyper-awareness of inclusion. We must ensure that we are always working with our biases to avoid unconsciously excluding.” says Marcus Schindler, Executive vice president of Research & Early Development and chief scientific officer (CSO).

The program is now offered throughout the organisation to ensure that more senior leaders have the opportunity to participate.

We recognise that diversity does not work without inclusion. Inclusion unlocks the power of diversity. To track progress on the state of inclusion in Novo Nordisk, we have introduced our global “Inclusion Index” as part of our annual employee engagement survey. The inclusion index is a numerical indicator of how employees rate the state of inclusion in our organisation. It consists of four statements:

• I feel free to speak my mind.
• There is an equal opportunity for people to have a successful career at the company.
• I feel like I really belong at our company.
• My team has a climate in which diverse perspectives are valued.

Of the more than 56,000 employees who completed the survey in 2024, 82% rated the inclusion statements favorable, compared to 78% in 2021 and 82% in 2022 and 2023.

To amplify the importance of inclusion locally, our commercial organisation hosted an “Inclusion Week” with the purpose of enabling employees to learn about inclusion in a psychologically safe space.

The week included various all-employee events and discussions, including a keynote speech on inclusion, as well as the experience of a senior vice president who shared his journey of overcoming bias, and how it shaped his career and impacted the outcome of his leadership.

The week also included an “Inclusion Hackathon” with participants brainstorming ideas that could foster greater inclusion. As a result of this initiative, about 100 suggestions were shared by the participants on how to improve inclusion showcasing a collective commitment to fostering a more inclusive work environment.

The week ended with the launch of a reverse mentoring initiative, promoting mutual growth between mentors and mentees.

To support leaders in role modeling inclusive leadership, the global HR organisation has focused on the unique role of the HR Business Partners (HRBPs) as D&I advisors, since the collaboration of leaders working with D&I and HRBPs who understand people and the organisation is key to business success.

“Diversity and inclusion is a prerequisite for realising our growth potential,” says Mille Borchorst, Senior vice president of P&O Business Partnering. “It must be visible daily – from how we approach strategy execution to how we welcome new colleagues –and throughout their Novo Nordisk careers.”

To put it into practice, D&I is now an integrated part of the HRBP model.