staff at senior executive and senior levels; gender balance at senior executive, senior,
and middle management levels; numbers of suppliers to screen against the use of
child labor; and use of security personnel.
(ii) Equal Opportunities. Reporting on equal opportunities issues worldwide is gen-
erally very poor.^22 Novo Nordisk’s reporting on this represents best practice (see Ex-
hibit 23.7). It provides quantified data and shows the representation of ethnic mi-
norities in the population as well as in the company itself. The representation of
women is shown at various levels in the hierarchy and employees have been con-
sulted on their views.
23 • 14 CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL REPORTINGExhibit 23.7. Men, Women, and Immigrants on P36 of Novo Nordisk’s Reporting on
the Triple Bottom Line, 2001.
Gender Representation in Management
Another indicator of equal opportunities is the
extent to which men and women are per-
ceived to have equal career opportunities. At
Novo Nordisk, we are pursuing the goal of in-
creasing the representation of women at man-
agement level. The table below illustrates the
current status of women in management. One
of the parameters of our succession planning
system is to increase the number of women
candidates selected as successors for vacant
management positions.
In our employee survey, eVoice 2001, we
asked our employees to state on a scale from
1 to 5 the extent to which they see men and
women as having equal opportunities at Novo
Nordisk. Of the more than 80% employees
who returned the eVoice questionnaire, 67%
responded positively to this statement. How-
ever, men tend to agree more than women
with the statement that Novo Nordisk is pur-
suing equal opportunities. About three quar-
ters, or 73%, of the male respondents re-
sponded positively, compared to 60% of the
female respondents.Dealing with Harassment or Other
Discriminatory Behaviour in the Workplace
Any employee who believes he or she has
been or is being harassed or discriminated
against should promptly take action. The EO
Toolbox offers a series of steps to either con-
front the person doing the harassing, or report
the behaviour to superiors or to the Human
Resources department.
If the issue is not resolved, as a final solu-
tion the issue may be brought to the attention
of the Novo Nordisk Ombudsman. He will be
responsible for investigating the issue, hearing
the parties involved and suggesting a satisfac-
tory solution.
Representation of Men/Women as at 1 January 2001
NN Top
Management
(Danish Organisation) Total Men Women
CEO/Executive
Vice Presidents 5 5 0
Senior Vice Presidents 13 11 2
Vice Presidents/ 174 137 37
Senior Principal Scientists
Managers/Principal Scientists 752 527 225Target
Each Executive Vice
President and Senior
Vice President has to
establish a plan with
targets for their organi-
sation to address equal
opportunities issues in
2002.
Representation of Immigrants/Descendants of Immigrants as at 1 January 2001
Representation of
Representation of Immigrants/Descendants
Immigrants/Descendants Of Which of Immigrants at Of Which
of Immigrants from LDC^1 Management Levels from LDC^1
Novo Nordisk Denmark 5.6% 1.5% 6.0% 0.8%
Denmark Total^2 7.3% 3.9% — —
These figures are the only obtainable approximation to ethnicity allowed by Danish law.
These figures will continue to be collected as part of future evaluation of equal opportunities programmes.(^1) Less Developed Countries (UN definition).
(^2) The figures represent the population group 15–65 years of age.
(^22) Adams and Roberts, 1995.