“Having engaged employees is part of the formula that has made us so successful” says Mats Bark, Senior Advisor Organizational Communication at Novo Nordisk.
Novo Nordisk is a pharmaceutical company that focuses on the treatment of diabetes and haemophilia. It is based in Copenhagen but employs around 40,000 workers in 79 different countries and it has managed to make everyone of them great communicators!
Novo Nordisk established an internal communications department called Organizational Communication run by a team of ten employees and headed by one of the company’s Executive Management Team. This is a typical reflection of “the importance the company places on getting its message across internally and externally.”
Furthermore, the firm developed:
- An intranet which has a central news role and allows all units to add their own updates and information
- A high quality print magazine to share news and events
- A mobile platform to share news and produce events and videos
- An organized network of communication specialists partnering with local business and central functions to create local programs that reflect core messages and values, and guide everyone to ensure a consistent quality of communication
- Online toolkits sharing different topics related to the company’s strategy, ethics, products, performance, etc.
- Training courses for leaders who want to develop their communication skills
- Simpler training sessions via communication networks
- A standardized listening and consulting process in collaboration with communication professionals to help the leaders understand how communication can support local and business priorities.
“Our most senior leaders are very much engaged in explaining the strategy; and it is part of our core company philosophy that people feel involved and engaged. Real engagement is not something that you can run from Head Office – our challenge is to make sure that middle managers are equipped to take the high level messages and turn them into something that is relevant locally”. He added: “…we just want to promote local conversations and help leaders make the time to communicate.”
Mats Bark
In order to evaluate their communication and clarify things, Novo Nordisk frequently conducts a series of interviews and focus groups with the management and employees. Based on the meetings’ findings, the review team launches an extended workshop with the entire management team to discuss results. Correspondingly, they come up with new plans or amend old ones, and lastly, they hold an all-employee meeting to communicate with everyone the future plans.
Today, Novo Nordisk is planning on running a follow-up survey as well.
Source
Yeomans, L and FitzPatrick, L (2017). Internal Communication. Pearson Education. Retrieved from http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/3499/3/Internal%20Communication.pdf
Share with us your thoughts and don’t forget to check out our course for detailed information.
Follow us on social media
Facebook: Dr. Nadine Mounzer Karam
Instagram: @dr.nadinemounzerkaram
Twitter: @dr_nadinemk
TikTok: @nadinemounzerkaram
LinkedIn: Dr. Nadine Mounzer Karam
YouTube Channel: Nadine Mounzer Karam
And Stay Tuned!
NMK – Business Coaching and Communication
