Developing a Global DEIB Strategy
Creating the insights foundation for a global Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging strategy and policy for 78,000+ employees
Client
Novo Nordisk
Company Size
78,000+ employees
Project Structure
Retainer
Decision Maker
VP of Global Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Function
DEIB Team
Challenge
Novo Nordisk, Europe's most valuable company, has grown by tens of thousands of diverse employees in a short time. How do we create policy and manage change ensuring that that everyone feels included and can do their best at work?​
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Outcome
A deep worldwide human-centered research process leading to the organization's first ever global DEIB strategy and policy.
Background
Novo Nordisk added over 20,000 new employees over the past two years and became a truly global company. While DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) efforts had been led locally in the past, it was time to formulate a global DEI strategy that would meet the needs of the many diverse employees and push the company culture forward. However, in order to create this strategy, it was necessary to first understand the lived experiences, context, and challenges of the people affected.
Approach
We joined the Novo Nordisk global DEIB team to lead a four-month research and strategy development process to build a foundation for the new DEIB policy. During this time, a four-person Anglemap team led the human-centered research and synthesis process and trained the Novo Nordisk team to conduct further research in the future.
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In order to arrive at new insights from a wide range of voices, and to even understand the global employee landscape and its recent changes in the first place, we conducted a thorough human-centered research process comprised dozens of in-depth interviews, 11 co-design strategy workshops with participants from across Novo Nordisk, digital questionnaires, as well as a global survey.
This combination of approaches, and their synthesis, allowed for both a deep and broad understanding of Novo Nordisk's employees and their needs, challenges, and motivations. ​
Solution
The primary tangible output of this thorough research process was a report that came to serve as a handbook for the DEIB team, as well as others such as HR and recruiting, to base their strategic and policy decisions on.
The report contained 65 distinct and actionable insights ranging across values and employee mindsets, cultural norms and barriers, tools and the work environment, leadership, and communication. Each was bolstered by direct anonymized quotes from employees.
Based on these insights and opportunities, we created a strategy framework with principles and possible approaches for the DEIB team, alongside guidance on activating the wider ecosystem and managing change.
In 2025, Novo Nordisk introduced its first ever global DEIB policy built on the foundation of this research.