Since I started my current role with iBe, I have discovered a whole new environment where brainstorming and collaboration is commonplace. This led me to expand my creativity and engage my brain in generating new ideas. I then asked myself various questions: what specifically informs engagement and team collaboration? How can we as HR professionals develop social working methods? This stream of ideas fired my interest into the way neuroscience impacts all of the above.

The answer to my questions may be pretty simple, but delving deeper into my queries I came across behavioural science and how it shapes behaviour by influencing people in the choices they make. As an area that offers compelling insights into how our minds work, neuroscience can help to engage professionals at work and help deliver higher impact HR.

So what’s the impact of neuroscience on HR?

Different thought processes are generated by interesting patterns in brain activity. It has been scientifically proven that social pain, such as peer rejection, and how the brain responds, is very similar to physical pain.

The impact on HR and the business is therefore immense. By examining brain activity in different scenarios, neuroscience can emphasise what conditions lead to the fight or flight response. For example, workplace bullying is a common condition that may lead to a flight response i.e. by getting as far away from the threat as quickly as possible. In extreme cases, it leads to a fight response through confrontation of the threat.

Likewise, research on the power of incentive suggests that, even from a young age, our brains are wired towards social acceptance. Thus, we instinctively learn to “mind read” people in order to adjust our behaviour to become accepted. In the HR context, this may have implications for teamwork and well-being of employees. This demonstrates that the more we engage workers with an organisation’s culture, the greater their performance and, ultimately, the better the alignment to an organisation’s goals.

Neuroscience makes people aware of biased judgements

From a different angle, insights from neuroscience show that a large number of human judgements are biased in a way that most of us may not be aware of, for example:

The affinity bias leads people to like individuals that are very similar to them

The exposure effect causes people to stay in their comfort zone and like things that they have already been exposed to

Individuals will stick to the sector or job roles that they are currently in, also known as status quo bias

I think this is a recurring problem as most companies and environments do not allow individuals freedom of reflection and it can become a challenge to get people reflecting on decisions that they make.

All of the above mentioned biases may greatly affect decisions that HR professionals make regarding attracting the right people to a given job and also to the organisation. Although I believe that everyone makes biased assumptions and decisions, scientific research shows that physiology can help by staying alert and also mindfulness practices are highly beneficial to brain health and regulating the amygdala, which is the integrative center for emotions, emotional behaviour and motivation.

The study of the brain reveals valuable insights on leadership

Looking at how the brain works, backed by research and science, helps inform leaders across businesses to become more open-minded and increase ownership among their employees. So what are some of the insights that effective leaders use?

They ask questions about employees’ feelings regularly — this is vital in order to replace feelings of threat with feelings of reward and eliminate threat even at an unconscious level. They understand how the brain works when control is lost — try to stop the reaction and choose to act in a different way. They stay productive and creative at the beginning of the day — in order to make the most out of the efficiency of the brain.

In fact looking at how the brain works helps leaders become more mindful about their own behaviour and less resistant to changes.

Insights into neuroscience bring a competitive edge to HR professionals

It is interesting to see how neuroscience is becoming a popular theme within HR which can translate knowledge and theory into action. Therefore I strongly believe that there is a great potential for HR professionals at all levels to work towards becoming more brain-savvy.