life- changing careers · life-changing careers 2012/2013 a healthy business from health in denmark...
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life-changing
careers
2012/2013
A healthy businessFrom health in Denmark to help in Mozambique
Engineers from everywhereInternational hires add new perspectives
Stories of personal passionPatient focus guides our efforts
The responsibility is yours Graduates take charge
Coming home to ChinaNovo Nordisk’s R&D facility attracts top scientists
NAoMI JohNSoNProduct transition discussion
Princeton, USA
ThoMAS FlEMMING ThoRSEN on his way to a meeting
Bagsværd, Denmark
For more than 10 years, Novo Nordisk has achieved double-
digit sales growth – such consistently impressive financial
results are unheard of in the pharma industry. The success is
attributable to our employees, who are joined together by the
aspiration to make a significant difference to patients, the
medical profession and society.
At Novo Nordisk, we believe in life-changing careers. here you
will not only change your professional life by working with
challenging tasks and inspiring colleagues; you will also be
part of making a real difference to the world we live in. By
putting people first in everything we do, we generate sustain-
able results and experience a very high level of commitment
amongst our colleagues.
In this magazine some of my colleagues tell their stories so that
you can read first-hand what it is like to work for Novo Nordisk
and see the opportunities this brings – such as working in other
countries, getting new challenges and making a real, tangible
difference.
I hope you enjoy the magazine.
lars Rebien Sørensen
Chief Executive officer
WelcomeContents
PAGES 4-5
An expanding global company
PAGES 6-7
The responsibility is yours
Surprises in the graduate programme
PAGES 8-9
Product Supply: leaner and greener
Engineers from everywhere
PAGE 10
The ultimate marketing challenge
PAGE 11
Coming home to China
PAGE 12
A commitment to change
PAGE 13
A new approach to sales
PAGES 14-15
Stories of personal passion
– Following a dream
– For a young girl, an easier life
PAGE 16
Volunteers help 3,573 people
PAGE 17
Production waste becomes art
Employees TakeAction
PAGES 18-19
A healthy business
A change of direction
PAGE 6 “Employees feel they are involved in this big goal of
making a difference to patients' lives,” says graduate pro-
gramme participant Tamara Seedial. “You do feel that early on,
because you get the opportunity to meet the patients.”
PAGE 11 For Principal Scientist Zhang Jun, one of the top at-
tractions of the R&D centre is the opportunity to work with
new, innovative approaches. one of her projects, for example,
involves an exciting collaboration with three top hospitals in
Beijing.
PAGE 8 “Personally, it is great to be exposed to a new way of
doing business with much less hierarchy than in the US,” says
one of the international recruits, Christopher Monnier.
PAGE 14 Two Novo Nordisk employees explain how their work
has changed the lives of others.
PAGE 18 A free bicycle-lending service has been helping Novo
Nordisk employees get from one building to another at some
of the major company sites in Denmark.
Graduate programme
Research and development
Global mobility
Patient focus
Novohealth
Novo Nordisk at a glance 54 Novo Nordisk at a glance
The 10 Essentials of the Novo Nordisk Way embody values
that include respect for one another, for the environment and
the societies on which we leave our footprint. In this way, we
ensure our business is sustainable: good relationships with
our stakeholders support our worldwide license to operate.
And we take this seriously; every year, affiliates and business
units around the world are audited against the Essentials by a
special team of facilitators.
our values also include a strong commitment to ambition. As
an employee at Novo Nordisk, you are actively encouraged to
develop your talents and explore your potential.
Because of our way of doing things, Novo Nordisk has earned
a reputation as a very attractive workplace, both in Denmark
and abroad. Internally, anonymous surveys show consistently
high employee ratings. In 2011, Novo Nordisk was rated
among the best places to work in Denmark and in countries
as diverse as the US, France, Poland,
Argentina, and South Africa.
> For more information, visit novonordisk.com/about_us
An expanding global company
Novo Nordisk at a glance
NoVo NoRDISk IS A GloBAl hEAlThCARE CoMPANY WITh NEARlY 90 YEARS oF INNoVATIoN AND lEADERShIP IN DIABETES CARE.
A reputation for being the best
Novo Nordisk headquarters are located in Denmark, but with
market presence in 190 countries and research, develop-
ment, and production facilities spanning five continents, the
company’s global reach is growing. See the map for more
details.
our primary focus is diabetes – and with more than 40 con-
secutive quarters of double-digit growth, we are the market
leader with around 50% of the total insulin market and 46%
of the modern insulin market, based on volume. In the biop-
harmaceuticals sector, Novo Nordisk has a leading position
within haemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hor-
mone replacement therapy.
Innovation and urgency
We are at the cutting edge of innovation. Recent scientific
breakthroughs in diabetes care include the development of
the new human GlP-1 analogue Victoza®, launched in 2010
and achieving blockbuster status (>USD 1 billion in sales) after
just 29 months. In 2011, two new-generation insulins were
filed for regulatory approval in Europe, Japan, and the US, and
an oral insulin tablet is currently in clinical development.
Meanwhile, our haemophilia pipeline is expanding with sev-
eral new products in late-stage development.
A growing diabetes pandemic has lent a sense of urgency to
our work. As of 2011, the number of
people with diabetes worldwide was
estimated to be 366 million, and by 2030
this number is expected to grow to 552 million.
Novo Nordisk seeks to reverse this trend.
Apart from providing the best possible treat-
ment options, we are also deeply engaged in
initiatives to prevent diabetes and expand access
to care.
A growing, diverse, and mobile workforce
We are more than 33,000 employees and we recruit some
4,000 new colleagues globally every year. About 57% of the
current workforce is based outside of Denmark; this percent-
age is expected to grow to 75% over the next decade. The
workforce comprises more than 100 different nationalities and
diversity is viewed as a prerequisite for global growth and in-
novative thinking. our company language is English.
Values and sustainability
At Novo Nordisk, you are part of a unique company culture
and heritage, dating back to when co-founder August krogh
brought insulin production to Denmark in 1923. It is a values-
based way of doing business, anchored in what we call the
Novo Nordisk Way.
North America
Europe
International operations
Japan & korea
Region China
headquarters and corporate hubs
Research and development centres
Production facilities
Affiliates
Representative offices
Tamara Seedial has enjoyed the feeling of truly making a difference during the gradu-ate programme.
Graduate Programme 76 Graduate Programme
Anirvan Dutt-ChaudhuriBusiness Processes Graduate
Current rotation: Io Market Access
and Commercial Effectiveness, Zurich,
Switzerland
I was surprised by how accessible peo-
ple make themselves to graduates. Col-
leagues of all levels, from recent alumni
to senior management, are ever ready
to meet with you and share their knowl-
edge and advice; it’s a testament to
how well recognised and perceived the
graduate programme is.
kasper VejeProduct Supply Graduate
Current rotation: Aseptic Production,
Clayton, US
The level of re-
sponsibility man-
agers trust gradu-
ates with. I had
high hopes com-
ing into the pro-
gramme and ex-
pected to be given meaningful tasks,
but never did I think that I would be
given tasks of the magnitude that I have
been given. As graduates, we are deeply
involved in many business-critical issues
and are often allowed to punch above
our weight, which has pushed me even
further than I had hoped for.
Elena Apostolova Business IT Graduate
Current rotation: IT System Manage-
ment, Bagsværd, Denmark
The ease of
moving from
one business
area to anoth-
er absolutely
amazed me. I
have seen people from IT going to sales,
colleagues from finance moving to
marketing, and professionals from IT
building a career in hR. We have end-
less opportunities for developing our
profiles, and a company that supports
us in it. Before starting to work at Novo
Nordisk, I thought the focus on personal
and professional development was just
words that every company would say to
attract the best talents, but for Novo
Nordisk it is reality.
Sona RastogiGlobal Marketing Graduate
Current rotation: Diabetes Marketing,
Princeton, US
The confidence
the line of busi-
ness has in the
graduates. It is
very encourag-
ing to be given
full responsibility of projects and the lib-
erty to run with them from the very start.
In addition, the large number of ex-
graduates in different areas and func-
tions within the organisation is very in-
spiring and reassuring. lastly, I have
been surprised by how awesome my
fellow graduates are with a combina-
tion of a go-getter spirit and a suppor-
tive and helpful attitude. I’m glad to be
part of the graduate programme and it
has been fantastic so far!
Thomas Flemming ThorsenCorporate Finance Graduate
Current rotation: Finance Projects,
Bagsværd, Denmark
I have been most
surprised by the
strong sense of
unity in the gradu-
ate group. As part
of the current
graduate group,
which encompasses more than 30 dif-
ferent nationalities, I have rich opportu-
nities to socialise with colleagues from
all over the world, learning more about
different cultures, sharing knowledge,
building a strong network across the
Novo Nordisk organisation, receiving
advice from former graduates on how
to make the most of the graduate ex-
perience, and much, much more.
> learn more about the graduate programme here
Graduate programme
Tamara Seedial joined the Novo Nordisk Graduate Programme
eighteen months ago. originally from Trinidad, she holds a BA
in chemical engineering and a Master’s in biotechnology.
her first of the three rotations in the programme involved get-
ting clinical trial applications approved for simultaneous launch
in 20 countries, and her managers gave her responsibility from
the outset:
“From Day one I got my own projects,” she says. “They say,
‘we will help you, but the responsibility and tasks are yours’.”
In her second placement, she worked as a clinical trial monitor
overseeing the trial she had gotten approved during her first
rotation. The continuity of work gave her the chance to see a
clinical trial working out in hospital in practice, and gave her an
insight into the difference such work can make to patients.
FRoM ThE VERY BEGINNING, GRADUATE PRoGRAMME PARTICIPANT TAMARA SEEDIAl hAS TAkEN ChARGE oF hER oWN PRoJECTS.
The responsibility is yours “All employees feel they are involved in
this big goal of making a difference to
patients’ lives,” she says. “You do feel
that early on, because you get the op-
portunity to meet the patients.”
open competition
After a spell in the newly-established
Bangalore office in India, Tamara’s final
rotation will take her back to headquar-
ters in Denmark to work in the compa-
ny’s haemophilia unit. After that, she
hopes to secure a position in the Regu-
latory Affairs department.
Tamara will be applying for a position
in open competition, but her chances
are good: about 96% of those who
complete the graduate programme have
taken up full time positions at Novo
Nordisk.
Each year more than 30 participants are
chosen for the graduate programme,
which covers four basic areas: business
management & marketing, product sup-
ply, finance & business IT, and research
& development. Below are comments
from other graduates working around
the company and around the world.
“what was the biggest surprise for you in the graduate pro-gramme”
8 Manufacturing / Global mobility Manufacturing / Global mobility 9
It began with
a philosophy
called clEAN®
– Novo Nor-
disk’s version
of the ‘lean’
production
practices de-
veloped by the
Japanese au-
tomaker Toyota. The little ‘c’ stands for
‘current’ and symbolises the fact that,
for Novo Nordisk, the philosophy is con-
stantly evolving.
Energy savings
Process and productivity improvements
were only the beginning. By 2011, the
cost of goods sold had fallen to just
19% of sales revenue, compared to
28.3% in 2003. As costs fell, the result-
ing financial savings were used to in-
crease Novo Nordisk’s spending for
research & development and expand
the company’s sales force. But there
were also environmental benefits, in
spite of significantly increased produc-
tion.
“clEAN® has had a major effect on our
energy consumption,” notes Senior
Project Manager Vibeke Burchard, who
tracks Novo Nordisk’s environmental
performance. “When you optimise pro-
duction, you can produce more with the
same amount of energy.”
over the years, major reductions in wa-
ter consumption, waste and Co2 emis-
sions have also been achieved by a lean-
er, greener Product Supply.
A culture of improvement
Meanwhile, the social bottom line now
shows employees who are more en-
gaged and better educated for their
jobs thanks to a constantly evolving,
clEAN®-based training programme that
also involves management. Vice Presi-
dent Marianne Prause-knudsen, who
has worked with clEAN® in Product
Supply in many different capacities,
puts it this way:
“Today clEAN® is not just a philosophy
– it is a culture of improvement, the
way we work. It’s our way of ensuring
that tomorrow will always be better
than today.”
When Novo Nordisk began to improve its production efficiency
back in 2003, it was mostly a question of making the com-
pany more financially competitive. But over the years, the
story unfolded into an extensive Triple Bottom line effort,
which not only lowered production costs but also reduced
the company’s environmental footprint and achieved some
important social goals.
EFFICIENCY EFFoRTS AT NoVo NoRDISk MANUFACTURING PlANTS YIElDED A TRIPlE BoNUS.
Product Supply: leaner and greener
Manufacturing
Global mobility
Christopher Monnier, a former usability
engineer at a US-based medical device
company. Christopher joined Novo Nor-
disk as a senior device engineer.
Surprisingly easy
Christopher and his wife found the tran-
sition to Danish life surprisingly easy,
thanks in part to the high level of English
that is spoken everywhere. Added to
this is their own adventurous spirit:
“We were really ready to leave the Mid-
west and try something different,” he
says. “We also knew about Novo Nor-
disk as a pharmaceutical company that
sponsors one of our favourite radio sta-
tions, National Public Radio.”
Engineers from everywhere
Device Research and Development
(DRD) is continuously working to fur-
ther develop user-friendly pens for in-
jection, and when Novo Nordisk hired a
group of new engineers from around
the world in 2011 to help develop new
medical devices in Denmark, the idea
was to add new perspectives to the
Danish engineering team.
“We are always looking for new skills
and ideas to add value to our efforts
in DRD. Engineers from outside of Den-
mark bring with them new professional
networks and experience in device en-
gineering,” says Corporate Vice Presi-
dent Thomas D Miller of Prefilled Device
Innovation, where all five of the new
recruits are working.
The new DRD engineers brought with
them a range of device engineering and
usability experience from the US, the
Uk, Ireland, Taiwan and holland. In re-
turn, one of the things their new com-
pany could offer them was a Danish
perspective on the idea of teamwork.
“Personally, it is great to be exposed to
a new way of doing business with much
less hierarchy than in the US,” says,
RESEARCh AND DEVEloPMENT IN ThE AREA oF MEDICAl DEVICES hAS BEEN ENRIChED BY A DIVERSE GRoUP oF NEW RECRUITS.
Christopher Monnier and his wife relocated to Denmark when he became senior R&D engineer at Novo Nordisk.
Vibeke BurchardSenior Project Manager Denmark
Experienced consultants from Novo Nordisk’s Global Mobility
Support team ease the transition to Denmark for international
hires.
For employees at production facilities around the world, the principles of cLEAN ® are now a way of life.
Read more here:
ABDEllATIF AhRoUDAPre-assembly in Product Supply
hillerød, Denmark
>
Research and development 1110 Marketing
It’s an exciting time for Principal Scientist Zhang Jun to be
in China.
After 20 years of working abroad in the pharmaceutical indus-
try, she is now using all her talents at Novo Nordisk’s research
and development centre in Beijing, where she found a “critical
mass” of colleagues, resources and scientific challenges. And
that mass of talent and challenge has grown even greater
since Jun returned to her home country in 2010.
In the fall of 2012, the centre opened a USD 30-40 million
expansion, increasing its staff capacity from 130 to 200 and
adding new facilities for more advanced research capabilities.
The centre boasts research facilities that are “among the best
in the world,” says Jun, who works with preclinical drug can-
didates for the treatment of rheumatic arthritis.
For Jun, one of the top attractions of the centre is the oppor-
tunity to work with new, innovative approaches. one of her
projects, for example, involves an exciting collaboration with
three top hospitals in Beijing:
“This collaboration gives us access to a large and unique array
of fluid and tissue samples from actual patients, and that ac-
cess is critical,” she says. “This is cutting-edge, translational
research that can really increase our odds of success.”
Scientific exchanges
The new expansion has made the Chinese R&D centre a fully
integrated part of the Novo Nordisk research organisation,
which also includes facilities in Denmark and a research centre
in the US. Jun enjoys the visits and scientific exchanges with
her colleagues at these sites.
“We are all working on the same projects so we can all help
and support each other – sometimes through teleconferences
and sometimes face to face,” she says.
When asked whether she plans to travel to the US or Den-
mark, Jun replies with a laugh:
“Right now, I think it is more attractive for my colleagues to
come to China.”
Novo Nordisk R&D in China
In 1997, Novo Nordisk became the first non-Chinese pharma-
ceutical company to establish a research and development
facility in China. Today, the R&D centre in Beijing focuses both
on diabetes and biopharm research, and is one of three ‘pillars’
in Novo Nordisk’s research organisation. The other two are in
Denmark and the US.
Coming home to ChINA
Research and development
Cutting-edge science brought Zhang Jun back to her home country, where she now lives with her husband and son, and can be near her parents.
Tim Slee, age 47, has spent most of his Novo Nordisk career
helping to launch new products. For him, it’s the most exciting
part of the business – and a great way to use his background
in social studies, psychology and journalism. Particularly in the
pharmaceutical industry there is a lot of pressure to get a
product launch right due to the often immense amount of
resources used for developing innovative medications and
devices.
“It’s the ultimate marketing challenge,” he says. “My job is to
take the clinical data the company has developed and pack-
age it so that it can be easily understood by the specialists,
nurses and educators who will then be explaining it to
patients.”
As Senior Global Marketing Director for Novo Nordisk’s
new-generation insulin degludec, Tim’s latest challenge has
been to prepare launch campaigns that are ready to roll with-
in days of a final product approval in key countries. This
involves a degree of uncertainty and a number of alternative
scenarios, depending on what regulators decide about the
product.
help from the experts
Not long after he joined the company in 1998, he worked on
the launch of the insulin analogue NovoMix® 30. A few years
later, he was helping to launch Novo Nordisk’s long-acting
insulin analogue levemir® – first in Canada and later in Aus-
tralia.
For the insulin degludec challenge, as with his previous launch
assignments, he was armed with a thorough knowledge of
the product. Years before it was submitted to authorities for
approval in 2011, he began working with experts involved in
the development of insulin degludec, learning how it works
and what it can mean to patients. he has also worked closely
with affiliates to learn about their specific marketing chal-
lenges and needs.
New opportunities
Tim has a large, diverse network – and a marketing team with
many different talents. But what happens to his own career
path after insulin degludec? Tim isn’t worried: “We have a
fantastic portfolio of products,” he says. “Every couple of
years there are new opportunities to become part of a new
major launch.”
The ultimate marketing challenge
Marketing
Tim Slee has extensive launch experience from the pharma industry and is now preparing the campaign for Novo Nordisk’s new-genera-tion insulins.
Until recently, innovation was primarily seen in relation to
product development. But Novo Nordisk is broadening its
definition of innovation to secure its future business. Support-
ed by senior management, an Innovation office has been es-
tablished, which focuses on unique and cross-functional
projects. Each project is anchored in the line of business and
nurtured by the Innovation office staff.
Examples of projects are
Base of the Pyramid:
a new business model for low-income countries.
Future Workplace:
finding new and more flexible ways of working together.
Future Field Force:
finding new ways to sell our products.
As an example, the Base of the Pyramid project has brought
about a new, innovative business model for selling insulin to
less well-off people in low-income countries. The business
model is the result of a collaboration between Novo Nordisk,
the health Ministry of kenya, several religious organisations
in kenya, and healthcare clinics in different parts of the
country. The very tangible result is that insulin vials from
Novo Nordisk are now being sold in kenya for a reduced
price, making treatment of diabetes much more affordable
for many kenyans.
Another concrete initiative is the introduction of lync as a
global communications tool to improve the communication
across geographies. This is done as part of the Future Work-
place project:
“We need to work efficiently together and select the best
people for a task independently of where they sit. In a virtual
meeting, you can have the richness of a face-to-face meeting
with colleagues all over the world,” notes Birgitte krejberg
Petersen, who heads the Future Workplace project.
12 Innovation Innovation 13
Doors that were closed are opening for
Novo Nordisk medical reps in the US. Re-
sponding to an extraordinary challenge
in many areas of the country, regional
sales organisations are transforming
their sales forces and offering customers
a whole new value proposition.
The challenge facing many medical reps
is that, in recent years, an increasing
number of US health systems have re-
stricted the reps’ access to physicians.
To deal with this problem, Novo Nordisk
changed the conversation.
The big picture
The new point of departure in the re-
stricted markets became health systems
executives, where decisions were now
being made. And the conversation be-
came less about products than about
helping these executives meet their own
challenges.
“It’s important that the customers don’t
just see us as someone who brings
product-related stuff,” says leslie Foy,
who became one of two new ‘health
systems managers’ in an initial Regional
Model project in Seattle and Minneap-
olis. Today she meets regularly with
executives in two Washington State
healthcare systems.
“My goal is to help them understand
the opportunities that exist to improve
the care for patients with diabetes. So
the conversation is not ‘what do you
need from me?’ but rather a dialogue
about trends, best practices and the
big picture,” she says.
The courage to change
Since its initiation back in 2007, the Re-
gional Model has expanded into many
other restricted health system districts.
The results? By 2010, for example, the
Northwest Region had changed its sales
ranking from dead last to number three
among the 16 US regions. And in Seat-
tle, the launch of Novo Nordisk’s diabe-
tes treatment Victoza® became the best
in the nation.
Northwest Regional Business Director
Doug Speas, who helped engineer the
first Regional Model, is more than
pleased:
“It’s great to work for an organisation
that has the courage to change,” he
says.
A commitment to change A new approach to sales
Innovation
NoVo NoRDISk IS ChANGING ThE CoNVERSATIoN ThAT US mediCAl rePS hAVE WITh ThEIR CoNTACTS.
AT NoVo NoRDISk INNoVATIoN IS ESSENTIAl – ThE CoMPANY’S hISToRY IS BUIlT oN IT.
In the Northwest Region of the US sales organisation, Health Systems Manager Leslie Foy helped pioneer a door-opening course of action.
Birgitte Krejberg Petersen conducts a virtual meeting with a colleague using Lync.
Several years ago my mother had
blurred vision that turned out to be
a cataract. My father, who was an
anaesthesiologist, was curious about
whether this could be a complication
of another disease in progress. his
hunch was correct. We visited an
endocrinologist, who diagnosed my
mother with type 2 diabetes. The
doctor prescribed Mixtard® and
NovoPen® 3 for my mother.
That was the first time I saw the Novo Nordisk Apis bull sym-
bol. Since then, I had a dream to help people with diabetes
have a better life. Years later, it happened. I joined Novo Nor-
disk.
I have been working with Novo Nordisk Indonesia since June
2009 as a medical advisor. I am proud to be able to share the
knowledge that I have to help people in changing diabetes. As
a medical affairs manager, I find passion in expanding physi-
cians’ horizons on the treatment of diabetes so their patients
can have a better quality of life.
A big challenge for me was running the A1chieve™ pro-
gramme in Indonesia. A1chieve™ is a global, observational
study on the use of insulin therapy – the largest-ever of its
kind. Every milestone was a challenge for me: getting approv-
al from the ethical committee, arranging investigator meet-
ings, etc.
It was a great commitment. There were days where I was so
engrossed in my work that I didn’t even realize until I looked
at my watch that the entire day had flown by.
Today, the A1chieve™ study is complete, and we plan to show
the results at every diabetes congress held in Indonesia. Ulti-
mately, it will be the patients who will benefit from a more
intensive treatment – and we will continue to help people
with diabetes live happier, healthier lives.
14 Patient focus Patient focus 15
Patient focus
Luki Iskandarsyah MuliaMedical Affairs Manager Indonesia
Imagine a young
girl with human
growth hormone
deficiency be-
coming tense
with fear and
anxiety every
time she has to
take an injection
of growth hor-
mone. This was exactly the situation I
found myself in a year ago, when I was
invited to train Noa, 12, to use a Novo
Nordisk device.
For two years, Noa had used a com-
petitor’s ‘needle-free’ device and expe-
rienced pain and bruises after each in-
jection. It took 20 minutes for the
family to calm Noa so they could inject
her. her brother covered his ears to
block his sister’s screams. her mother
decided enough was enough, and con-
sulted her daughter’s physician for an
alternative.
My team and I had just begun a cam-
paign promoting a new and innovative
message for our brand, calling it a
‘virtually pain-free growth hormone
treatment’. As part of the campaign,
we offered physicians a chance to test
our device on themselves.
To their surprise, they found it was
indeed pain-free. Noa’s physician, who
had tried the device, offered the
mother the chance to try it with Noa.
I conducted the training. Soon after, I
received an emotional letter from Noa’s
mother.
“Novo Nordisk made our lives easier
in just one day,” she wrote. “Before,
we were afraid and full of guilt
about hurting our child. Noa was in
terrible distress, which affected her at all
levels and required psychological inter-
vention as well. The night after being
trained on Norditropin®, Noa insisted on
injecting herself for the first time. No
more pain! No more blue bruises! No
more suffering! our child is joyful and
independent and full of self-esteem!”
Two days later, a friend of Noa’s family
contacted me and asked me to train
her daughter on Norditropin®. know-
ing I make a difference to patients
through my work is an honour for
me.
Keren Nagar, HRT Sales Representative Israel
For a young girl, an easier life
AT NoVo NoRDISk, WE BElIEVE EVERY EMPloYEE ShoUlD BE AWARE oF WhAT WE REAllY ARE WoRkING FoR: A BETTER lIFE FoR PATIENTS.
The patients are what is most important to the employees of Novo Nordisk –pictured here is Ayse Naz Baykal of Turkey who has type 1 diabetes.
The first-person narratives on these pages show how our patient focus has affected the workinglives of two Novo Nordisk employees
– one in Indonesia and the other in Israel.
Following a dream
Stories of personal passion
AYSE NAZ BAYkAlTurkeyAyse has type 1 diabetes
iNdiA: With a population that includes
some 60 million people with diabetes,
India is sometimes called the diabetes
capital of the world. It’s a fact that per-
haps makes this country the ideal place
in which to attempt a world record for
the number of diabetes screenings per-
formed within an eight-hour period.
And in 2011, that’s exactly what a
group of Novo Nordisk employees at
the Indian affiliate decided to do, with
the help of the company’s TakeAction
volunteer programme.
Supported by the company’s willing-
ness to allow employee engagement in
social and environmental projects dur-
ing working hours, the group enlisted
more than 100 healthcare professionals
to perform the necessary blood glucose
tests free of charge. Meanwhile, the
employee group began planning the
logistics of the event and set up a mas-
sively successful media campaign about
the record attempt.
The event was rolled out in Bangalore,
India, on 13 November 2011 – the day
before World Diabetes Day. Eight hours
later, the result was a record-breaking
3,573 diabetes screenings, verified by
an official from the Guinness Book of
World Records who monitored the
record attempt from start to finish.
The marathon screening event later won
the Novo Nordisk TakeAction Award for
the best volunteer project of 2011. It
was chosen from a field of 56 nominees
– which, in turn, represented just a
fraction of the number of TakeAction
projects, large and small, that were
rolled out in 2011 by Novo Nordisk
employees in every corner of the globe.
16 Employee engagement
Volunteers help 3,573 people
> Visit YouTube
Meet three TakeAction volunteers –
including one of the prime movers be-
hind the Indian project – in a film at
this YouTube site.
Employee engagement 17
Employee engagement
Production waste becomes art
Employees TakeActionNovo Nordisk employees are not only committed to changing
diabetes through their employment in the company. In the
spirit of the Triple Bottom line, they also care about what hap-
pens in the community and the environment in which they live
and work.
This is where the company’s volunteer programme TakeAction
comes to life, giving employees the chance to spend working
hours on projects that show social responsibility, help the en-
vironment – or both.
BrAzil: Novo Nordisk employees are encouraged to be so-
cially and environmentally responsible – and this was the
background for a TakeAction project at the company’s pro-
duction site in Montes Claros, Brazil. The idea was simple:
employees took waste products from their factory and
recycled them into an art workshop for unemployed family
members.
The project became known as the Novartes workshops,
where participants explored their creativity and generated
much-needed income from the sale of their artwork. More
than 1,000 kilograms of factory waste was recycled in this
way, and some 900 people have benefited from the success-
ful workshops.
The art project paved the way for a more therapy-related
TakeAction project just a few months later, when the Take-
Action team at Montes Claros went out into the local com-
munity to offer diabetes and blood pressure screening. over
a series of weekends, 768 people were screened for diabetes
and 595 were screened for hypertension.
support Novo Nordisk’s business and therapy areas
deal with social and/or environmental issues
be employee-driven
involve two or more employees
To qualify as a TakeAction activity, it must:
NoVo NoRDISk VolUNTEERS FoUND A SINGlE, CREATIVE SolUTIoN To TWo DIFFERENT ChAllENGES.
Thousands lined up in Bangalore to be screened for diabetes during the eight-hour event.
18 Novohealth / Medical careers Novohealth / Medical careers 19
As a medical doctor with some years of clinical experience, Flo-
rian Baeres had reached a crossroads in his career back in
2010.
“I had the feeling I had other skills that I would like to ex-
plore,” he recalls. “At that time, it was natural for me to
reconsider where I’d like to go.”
MEDICAl DoCToRS CAN DEVEloP A NEW CAREER PATh ThRoUGh NoVo NoRDISk’S PhARMACEUTICAl MEDICINE PRoGRAMME.
Novohealth
A healthy business NoVo NoRDISk BICYClES BEGIN ThEIR SERVICE AT CoMPANY SITES IN DENMARk, BUT WIll lATER CoNTRIBUTE To SUSTAINABlE ACTIVITIES IN MoZAMBIqUE.
For several years now, a free bicycle-
lending service has been helping Novo
Nordisk employees get from one build-
ing to another at some of the major
company sites in Denmark. Employees
at these sites can simply ask at their
main reception desk, where they are
provided with a helmet and a key to
one of the specially-built bicycles parked
outside.
The Novo Nordisk bikes are an obvious
– and popular – solution at these loca-
tions, where the company occupies an
area the size of a small town. But the
service represents more than a healthy,
convenient and pollution-free way of
getting around.
After the bicycles have served Novo
Nordisk for two and a half years, they
are shipped off to a bicycle workshop in
Mozambique, where they are rebuilt to
fit local needs and will serve their ‘sec-
ond life’ as transportation for health-
care professionals.
Sustainable for everyone
The bicycle programme was set in mo-
tion by Novo Nordisk’s Department of
Corporate Sustainability together with
Novohealth, a worldwide company ini-
tiative to promote good health among
employees.
”This is a good example of how many
different aspects of sustainability can
be combined in a single project,” says
Martin kristiansen, head of the Global
Novohealth programme. “This initiative
combines health with both social and
environmental responsibility.
“The bikes have become extremely
popular as a means of transportation
between our sites, providing a great
opportunity to include physical activity
in an otherwise sedentary workday. At
the same time, we get a breath of fresh
air and arrive at our next meeting with
a higher level of engagement.”
The Novohealth programme
Novohealth is a global employee health
programme that gives Novo Nordisk
the opportunity to practise what it
preaches. The overall purpose of the
programme is to develop a workplace
culture that promotes healthy living for
all employees.
knowledge and training
Florian ended up finding a new career direction through
Novo Nordisk’s Pharmaceutical Medicine Programme (PMP).
The two-year programme is currently giving him a broad, on-
the-job introduction to the pharmaceutical industry, and at the
end of the introductory period, he will be offered a permanent
position at Novo Nordisk. Currently, he is a medical advisor with
Global Medical Affairs in Søborg, Denmark, where he works on
building and communicating medical knowledge and improv-
ing the medical benefits of Novo Nordisk products.
“I use my training to provide input to a variety of stakeholders
at Novo Nordisk,” he says. “I also have the possibility to ex-
pand my scientific knowledge and get excellent training to
improve what I do.”
A common purpose
“one of the amazing things about working at Novo Nordisk
is that here you get the feeling that everyone has a common
purpose. Everyone is pulling on the same string to ultimately
achieve goals for Novo Nordisk but also to the benefit of
patients.”
Read more at this site
A change of direction
>
As a medical advisor at Novo Nordisk, Florian Baeres has found new ways to use his medical training and clinical experience.
Novo Nordisk bikes stand at attention outside company headquarters in Bagsværd, Denmark.
Medical careers
Medical careers
Medical doctors may well ask themselves: why should I use my
training in the pharma industry instead of working directly
with patients? Through Novo Nordisk’s Pharmaceutical Medi-
cine Programme, doctors such as Florian Baeres (pictured) are
discovering how they can help patients in
ways that are not possible in clinical practice.
> Read more at this site
Your career begins atnovonordisk.com/careers
We hire more than 4,000 people a year
Sign up for email job agent on our career site
meet employees and get a feeling for working at Novo Nordisk
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Produced by: Global Talent Attraction, September 2012 Journalist and editing: Language Arts, Anne Nielsen
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