Taking action across the world
Novo Nordisk’s TakeAction! programme continued in 2004 with numerous activities initiated and run by employees across the world. Among the major successes was the publication of a TakeAction! Cookbook, which involved employees from all parts of the Novo Nordisk organisation.
The book contains a selection of recipes for delicious and healthy meals supplied by Novo Nordisk employees as part of a company-wide competition. By the end of January 2005 – only six weeks after its launch – approximately 8,000 copies of the book have been sold to employees at DKK 50 a piece. All proceeds are being donated to one of the World Diabetes Foundation’s current projects to establish a number of diabetes clinics in more remote rural areas of Vietnam.
Promoting responsible action
The TakeAction! programme is a corporate volunteer programme designed to promote and support employee action within diabetes care, or environmental or social work in the local community. The objective is to engage employees in making Novo Nordisk’s commitment to the Triple Bottom Line come alive, with everything this implies:
“The TakeAction! Cookbook project is an excellent example of an issue where company interests, employee interests and society’s needs intersect. The project has involved a large number of employees in discussing the importance of a healthy diet, which is one of the key health issues in society today, because it is a crucial factor in the development of chronic diseases, such as diabetes,” explains Elin Mohr, project coordinator for the cookbook.
Education and volunteer work
In 2004, corporate level initiatives also included volunteer programmes, where employees worked at diabetes centres in Tanzania and in a camp for young people with diabetes in Zambia, and sponsor programmes to support people with diabetes in El Salvador and Bangladesh. These activities were supplemented by a long list of locally driven initiatives around the world, including volunteer work in diabetes summer camps in Europe, school project about healthy diet in Canada and the ‘Dream catcher project’ in the US working with native Americans and diabetes. Among the new initiatives in 2005 is a school project, engaging children worldwide in initiatives and games teaching about healthy living and diabetes prevention.
Valuable internal benefits
In addition to strengthening the relations between Novo Nordisk and its external stakeholders, the employees’ involvement in these kinds of activities also generates valuable internal benefits. Lykke Lyngsø, project manager for the TakeAction! programme, explains:
“In our experience, employees who get involved or take charge of a TakeAction! initiative develop competencies at a personal as well as at a professional level. It promotes leadership capacities, builds employee skills and generally enhances employee satisfaction. It is a great teambuilding exercise and a very constructive way of bringing the corporate values to life.”
Management control and feedback
Employees are encouraged to supply ideas and take part in these activities. Targets and success criteria are built into the individual employee’s personal job description and annual targets to secure a high professional level. To make sure that all initiated activities focus on the key priorities and are in line with the company’s business strategy, a special management set-up will be installed during 2005 to evaluate all initiatives and allocate resources.
“It is a win-win opportunity, and I look forward to seeing new exiting initiatives come to life as we expand the TakeAction! programme,” says Lykke Lyngsø.
