There is still room for improvement, but members of the fairer sex has certainly begun making their way into the management teams of the Danish drug fore-runner Novo Nordisk, where there has been a significant improvement in gender diversity since just five years ago.

That is the conclusion in the diversity report 2013 which Novo Nordisk published in connection with the publication of its annual financial report.

Efforts to ensure that more women make it into the group’s various management teams are carried out at all levels, also at the very top. Novo’s board of directors currently includes one woman, Liz Hewitt, who was elected at the general assembly in March 2012. But in 2013, Novo decided that the elected members of the board must be represented by two women by 2017.

Some way to go

Novo Nordisk’s new Chairman of the Board Göran Ando also hones in on the issue in the annual report, highlighting "two important decisions that the Board has made regarding corporate governance.”

“We established a Nomination Committee to enhance the process for nominating members to the Board, and set new targets for the diversity of the Board as regards gender and nationality,” he writes.

The group management, consisting of seven members, currently only includes one female executive, Lise Kingo, who has served on the management team for a number of years. As of January 31st, the company’s top management has been expanded with two new members – both men.

Five-year plan 2009-2014

In 2009, Novo Nordisk decided that the number of female executives in the group should be enhanced. The company introduced what it calls “an ambitious five-year diversity aspiration that focuses on gender and nationality, and aims to ensure diversity across all senior management teams.”

The ultimate aim is that all of Novo Nordisk’s 33 management teams should have at least one non-Danish member and that both sexes should be represented by at least one person at the close of 2014.

Senior management teams are defined as those one to two levels below the CEO, namely the management teams of the executive vice presidents and the senior vice presidents.

“Since the inception of the five-year diversity aspiration, Novo Nordisk has seen steady progress and expects that the vast majority of senior management teams will live up to the diversity aspiration by the end of 2014,” Novo writes in the Diversity Report 2013.

Enhancing effort

A table of the development in company diversity shows that Novo has made steady progress in this area since 2008. Back then, only 22 of the 33 teams lived up to the aspiration, while it has now increased to 30 out of 33 teams, for a hit rate of 91%.

“In 2014, Novo Nordisk plans to enhance its efforts to achieve the diversity aspiration, and diversity will remain a key priority beyond 2014,” Novo writes, stressing that it requires the head of each management group to either comply with the diversity aspiration or explain to Executive Management why it has not yet been possible to meet it.

Programs and networks

There have been other efforts to further the careers of female workers in Novo Nordisk. The company runs a three-day corporate leadership development program for women called SPECTRA. The purpose of the program is to encourage women to clarify their own career ambitions, increase their impact and influence, and develop career strategies. More than 200 female executives have taken part in the program since 2010.

Moreover, Novo Nordisk has launched a network called Women in Novo Nordisk (WINN) that aims to provide women with opportunities to network, discuss advancement and development of their careers, and gain inspiration from internal and external speakers.

The WINN initiative originated in the group's US affiliate in 2006, and since then events have been held annually, involving more than 200 women leaders each year. In 2013, another WINN initiative was launched, named WINN2. This network targets women aspiring to managerial positions.

 This is why Novo’s hemophilia chief is leaving 

 Novo’s corporate culture is a powerful weapon in China 

 Novo-chief: Uncommitted workers are dangerous 

 Novo in extensive management reshuffle 

- translated by Martin Havtorn Petersen

Want to receive the latest news from Medwatch straight in your e-mail inbox? Sign up for our free english newsletter below.