Novo Nordisk wins UK’s Best Workplaces Learning and Leadership for Sustainable Excellence Award

Diabetes healthcare company Novo Nordisk has been awarded the 2010 UK Learning and Leadership for Sustainable Excellence Award by the Great Place to Work® Institute which is supported by the University of Cambridge programme for sustainability leadership.

The award recognises organisations that help employees and leaders to understand and respond to socio-environmental challenges.

Through demonstrating a company wide commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), supported by evidence of strong employee engagement in volunteer programmes and a real commitment to climate change, Novo Nordisk was announced as the winner of the 2010 award.

Speaking on the success, Viggo Birch, Managing Director Novo Nordisk UK and Ireland said: “This is a fantastic recognition of our Triple bottom Line commitment and our approach to balancing financial results with social and environmental sustainability. Our work in this area is what differentiates us from the competition and makes us all so proud of being part of Novo Nordisk.”

Novo Nordisk engages its employees in the Triple Bottom Line to ensure it is a principle by which the organisation lives and breathes. Through the TakeAction! programme employees are given the mandate to engage in volunteer activities that make a difference for society and the environment.

With a strong heritage and 87 years of experience in improving standards of care for people with diabetes, Novo Nordisk’s commitment extends to people who lack access to treatment and those who face barriers due to inadequate healthcare structures.

“ The primary goal of our long-term efforts is to generate the greatest health impact for patients, protecting the most vulnerable and building partnerships and healthcare system capacity to confront the diabetes pandemic in the least developed countries and emerging health economies, ” commented Birch.

The company is also a member of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Climate Savers programme and is advocating an ambitious global framework to tackle climate change.

Novo Nordisk UK Limited was awarded 5th overall Best Workplace in UK, 25^th Best Workplace in Europe and was also a finalist in the Corporate Responsibility Excellence and Health & Wellbeing Excellence award categories. The company was rated the highest of all pharmaceutical businesses and one of six recognised as a best workplace for working mothers as a result of awarding employees with generous maternity leave in addition to the statutory minimum.

Notes to editors

1. Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is a business principle which means as well as being focused on producing superior business results, all decisions and actions must be environmentally sound and socially responsible. A TBL approach allows a company to balance short-term profitability with longer-term societal interests.

About Novo Nordisk

Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with 87 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. The company also has leading positions within haemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. For more information, visit novonordisk.co.uk.

About The Great Place to Work® Institute

The Great Place to Work® Institute is a global research and management consultancy with operations in 44 countries and strong expertise in workplace transformation. We are best-known for our global Best Workplaces Programme, which we have distributed with prestigious media, such as the Financial Times and Fortune. This is world’s largest people excellence programme, with over 3,800 organisations taking part across the globe. We believe passionately that any company or organisation can become a great place to work and we are proud to help them in this initiative.

About the Best Workplaces Programme

A great workplace is an organisation where employees trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the colleagues they work with.  The Great Place to Work® Institute assesses where a company is a best workplace using two tools: The Trust Index® employee survey and a Culture Audit® management questionnaire.

The Trust Index® employee survey allows employees to give anonymous feedback to 58 statements to obtain perceptions and information on aspects such as training and development, and whether leaders “walk the talk”. It measures the level of trust, pride and camaraderie within the company

The Culture Audit® management questionnaire makes up the final third of a company’s score and covers nine areas and provides insight into a company’s values, policies and practices.

For media enquiries please contact:

Louise Johnston, Communications Manager, Novo Nordisk Limited

Tel: +44 1293 762205 Mobile: +44 7850 712103 lujo@novonordisk.com

Hannah Synnuck, Communications Officer, Novo Nordisk Limited

Tel: +44 1293 762188 Mobile: +44 7725 289514 hsyn@novonordisk.com

^{UK/DB/0610/0118}