Novo Nordisk has just been named the world's best workplace. And anyone who knows someone who works at/for/ with Novo Nordisk is clearly proud of the collaboration. Rightly so. It IS a good place to work. But what does it really take to create the world's best workplace?
I first visited Novo Nordisk in the 80s while attending Aarhus School of Business. One of many valuable inputs was an impressive organizational setup, where HR had 2-3 so-called "runner up" for all important positions.
If A stops, X is ready to take over. And if X doesn't fit into the equation, we have Y, who is replaced by B. And of course B will receive suitable education and training before starting as our new A.
But can you put the world's best workplace on formula?
No, of course not.
The most important ingredient is therefore the management's attitude to how we jointly create a well-functioning work/ life balance, for all employees.
Next, HR must of course be equipped to help employees shape a working life that is optimal for the individual.
Maybe it's utopia!?
And yet. It has never been easier to involve employees in what they see as the most important elements of a good working life. Fortunately, most HR departments do this on an ongoing basis.
So, how do you become the best workplace in the world?
Well, if you want the official title from Best Places to Work, who has just named Novo Nordisk the best place to work in 2022, you need to buy a certification and live up to their formula. The end result, of course, is CELEBRATION. They offer a global platform – both online and live – where you can celebrate the efforts of employees, partners, and other stakeholders.
Before that, there are just 7 phases you need to go through to meet their selection criteria. One of them is their in-depth Employee Survey, where they measure Employee Engagement.
They forget just one but very important element: The human being - and life outside of work.
As our currently most prominent philosopher of life, Morten Albæk, so simply and elegantly puts it:
Once we leave here, there will only be one coffin in the church. There is not a coffin for work-Morten, family-Morten, and friend-Morten. There is more to life than work.
When companies evaluate employee well-being, it is therefore not only about life at work, but our life as a whole.
Morten continues that our greatest gift is:
"... the opportunity to dwell on and reflect on whether the existential fence posts that have been erected by the language we use and by the culture and society in which we live, align with
the person, we strive to be and that life, we wish to live. "
Not alone while working.
But is HR responsible for how we live our lives when we are not at work?
Both yes and no.
The main thing, of course, is the framework in the workplace itself – and at home, if we also work from home. It could, however, be ideal to have a 360-degree approach to the well-being of our colleagues, so that everyone goes to work happy every day.
Of course, we measure this on an ongoing basis:
The goal for the optimal HR effort was once formulated very nobly by a far-sighted HR manager:
Our employees are only on loan. I would like to send all of them home to their families enriched.
Surely that is a fantastic intention. Unfortunately, few of us have more energy after a long day at work. In that case, it has been a very valuable one.
After all, it would be optimal – also for HR – to be able to offer every single employee the tools to live the life he or she wants.
Who wouldn't want to be behind the world's happiest workforce?
We would certainly like that.
Therefore, we also have a completely different approach to what it takes – for each employee – to be happy going both to and from work.
To what extent does your work give you increased self-esteem and job satisfaction?
...is just one of the painstakingly selected questions we ask your colleagues in our efforts to involve them in the task of creating the world's happiest workplace. It is a joint task that does not lie alone with management.
We therefore continuously measure whether your colleagues live the life they want to live – and whether they feel that they create value every day.
We also continuously ask for suggestions on how we can become better at creating the optimal framework for the individual employee – but also how he/ she can contribute.
It's all about being genuinely curious
We always start with:
From your point of view, what is the biggest challenge that we as an organization are facing right now - in one or a few words?
In this way, we put into words what it takes to create a healthy and efficient workplace, in the employees' own words.
Therefore, we also dare to guarantee that the employees will love the optimization process that our report, and following workshop generates - because they themselves have helped formulate it.
More than half of our respondents eventually add:
Thank you for making me stop and reflect on my life - and what it takes to make me a happier person.
That makes us happy.
How to get the world's happiest colleagues
Contact us and get a taste of how to involve your colleagues in a comprehensive journey towards achieving what is most important to them – respectively and together. It doesn't cost you anything – and it makes us happy.
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