Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 118
118
( 2025 )
SPONSOR CONTENT
Diversity helps identify leaders at Novo Nordisk
W
hen leaders at
Novo Nordisk
Canada Inc.
(NNCI) wanted
to focus on
diversity, equity, inclusion and
belonging efforts for their
employees, they went all-in on
the effort, according to Angie
Ng, vice president of people and
organization.
“We decided to double down
and focus on it,” Ng says. “We
evolved our diversity leadership
team – iLEAD, for inclusion,
leadership, equity, awareness,
diversity – and we thought, ‘What
do we need to help our employees
understand that we really care?’
We looked at all the different ways
we could increase and ensure
more diverse representation as
part of our culture, and one of the
things that came up was ERGs.”
NNCI’s ERGs, or employee
resource groups, are proposed,
launched and led by employees
and represent various communities within the company.
Last year, inspired by the
two original ERGs – Allied
Rainbow Community (ARC) for
2SLGBTQIA+ employees and
Gender Equity Movement (GEM)
– sales representative Noureen
Habib decided to step forward to
launch the South Asian Alliance
for Togetherness and Harmony
(SAATH) ERG.
SAATH – its name inspired by
a word meaning togetherness
and unity in Hindi – began with a
conversation with a girlfriend of
Habib’s who started a similar ERG
at her law firm. Habib says her
company was enthusiastic about
the idea right from the start.
“They’ve supported everything
we’ve needed from the ERG,” she
says. “Any idea that we’ve come
to them with, they’ve been super
supportive.”
Since Novo Nordisk helps
patients with serious chronic
diseases, it’s even more meaningful for this group of colleagues
to come together and share their
experiences as team members and
as family members.
“I have the work-life balance,
and I have what I need from
the company to not only be
a young mom, but also be
successful in my work.”
— Noureen Habib
Sales Representative
Employees at Novo Nordisk Canada participate in a company-sponsored Golf Day event.
“We work in a disease area that
South Asian people suffer more
from,” Habib says. “Studies show
if you’re South Asian, you may
have a higher risk to develop
diabetes and obesity than if you
are not.”
Ng explains that, besides
helping foster community and
communication, the company’s
ERGs identify leadership potential
in their employees.
“The truth is that in ERGs, employees have to invest their time
and energy to keep them going,”
she says. “The fact that they want
to do that in addition to their
job is a demonstration of their
commitment to NNCI, and their
respective communities’ cultures.”
Since SAATH was launched
just over a year ago, two new
ERGs have been started at NNCI.
“I’m going to boast,” says Habib.
