Insights

For years, Novo Nordisk has been the shining example of how to build a workplace that both attracts and retains top talent. They have won awards. They have been role models. They have been Denmark’s best workplace.

But then came 2025. Suddenly, everything was turned upside down.

Increased competition. Lower growth than expected. 9,000 layoffs. Job offers withdrawn. Titles removed. Bonuses scrapped. Remote work revoked. The company party canceled. And a new CEO in the form of Mike Doustdar, who has chosen a communication style reminiscent of an Excel sheet with a microphone.

From culture to control

We have followed not only the decisions, but also how they were communicated. And this is where it gets interesting. In a time when leadership is supposed to be about trust, transparency, and psychological safety, Doustdar, in his first six weeks, has chosen a different path.

The culture once marked by trust, flexibility, and pride has, in just a few months, been replaced by a new narrative that could aptly be titled “Performance over People.”

And this is not just a leadership decision – it is also a communicative choice. Because when leadership communication takes three steps back toward top-down, it sends a clear signal that culture is no longer a core value but a cost.

Strategic? Yes. Empathetic? Well…

There is no doubt that crises – especially in listed companies – demand decisiveness. Transformation requires courage, and when the storm hits, CEOs are sometimes forced to make unpopular decisions. But communication is not only about informing. It is equally crucial to involve, so employees do not suddenly feel unsafe or sidelined while management decides precisely which colleagues will no longer be part of the company. Such limbo can be poisonous for cohesion and, in the long run, for culture.

Mike Doustdar has been consistent and clear. But he has also been cold. And in a company that has built its brand on purpose and people, this is a course that comes at the cost of trust and loyalty.

We see a CEO who masters framing and narrative control, but who – perhaps deliberately – ignores some of the most important tools in modern executive communication: emotional storytelling and dialogue-driven leadership.

Where did the conversation go?

Doustdar is still new as Novo’s top leader, but he has nailed his name firmly into place and set the tone as a man of action. It may well be that he is exactly what Novo’s share price and bottom line need in these “cold” times. But he is also a CEO who currently uses communication to control rather than to involve – to inform rather than to truly communicate. That strategy may work in the short term, but in the long run it risks undermining trust, engagement, and culture.

A company of Novo Nordisk’s caliber cannot hide what is being communicated internally. We have seen a CEO attempt what might be called pragmatic empathy. But it has been all too obvious that he is speaking to the market – not to the people.

A wake-up call

For decades, Novo Nordisk has stood as a beacon of image and reputation in Danish business. But right now, the company also stands as a warning sign to those who believe a culture can be drastically reshaped without consequences. That you can abolish flexibility, lay off thousands, and still expect loyalty, motivation, and pride.

We do not yet know the outcome of all these maneuvers, but already today many view Novo Nordisk differently than they did just a few weeks ago.

At Rostra, we also advise companies navigating crises, change, and cultural transformation. And decades of experience tell us this: it is not decisions alone that define culture and shape external perception of a company in the long run – it is also the style and tone in which they are communicated.