Novo Nordisk is a leading global pharmaceutical company and the largest producer of insulin. It specialises in treatments for diabetes, obesity, rare blood disorders and growth hormone deficiencies.
Reason for engagement
As one of the world’s largest listed companies and with more than 10,000 employees, Novo Nordisk is in the scope of the CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmark – Global 100+. With about 77,000 employees across 80 countries, it has a significant opportunity to improve the wellbeing of its people.
What we did
We have been engaging with the company on this theme since 2022, when it was ranked in tier 5 (worst) in the first CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmark. It has been assessed and ranked annually since then. We have written to the company’s CEO four times on behalf of a sizeable investor coalition. We have met representatives of the company to discuss this theme six times over the past four years.
Outcomes
In essence, we have been asking the company to enhance its mental health policy and plan; to define clear roles, responsibilities and accountability for its development; to secure senior leadership buy-in to establish a workplace mandate for mental health; and to consistently communicate both its commitment and its implementation progress.
By 2025, the company had published a video of its CEO setting out a leadership commitment to workplace mental health, which is housed on the company’s external webpage. A vocal leader helps to seal senior manager buy-in and to break down the stigma associated with poor mental health at work. In addition, the company has now published a comprehensive mental health policy, which clearly describes the processes in place to ensure that it is effectively implemented. The policy is universal to all employees and contingent workers, and to all business areas and geographies where the business operates.
The company has clearly assigned senior management and day-to-day operational management responsibility for this theme and has set targets related to workplace mental health based on reducing the share of employees reporting symptoms of stress. It also clearly explains the mechanisms by which it aims to achieve its objectives (e.g. through customised training and interventions by internal organisational psychologists).
Between 2022 and 2025, the company increased its benchmark score by 44 percentage points, resulting in a jump from tier 5 (worst) to tier 3, making it the third most improved company in the CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmark – Global 100+ and placing it in the top quartile of global companies.
In the company’s words, ‘We at Novo Nordisk are humbled and honored to be recognized for our performance on improving our efforts on ensuring a working environment fostering mental well-being for our people. … This recognition serves as a powerful motivator for our ongoing efforts to further improve and support health and well-being in our workplace and beyond.’
Please note, Novo Nordisk not held in CCLA portfolios as at 31 December 2025.