New IRF Report: Neuroscience and Employee Engagement
May 25, 2017The Incentive Research Foundation released “Using Behavioral Economics Insights in Incentives, Rewards, and Recognition: The Neuroscience,” an innovative application of scientific findings to employee motivation and rewards. Offering practical C-suite takeaways, the IRF’s report describes the unifying behavioral economic principles connecting the powerful role of emotions with employee performance.
The report explains how behavioral economics can help employers better understand what motivates employees, because it recognizes the majority of human decision-making is emotional as opposed to rational. Behavioral economics integrates social, cognitive and emotional factors to more fully explain human decision-making biases. Neuroeconomics provides an additional powerful layer of proof by exploring the biologic underpinnings of decision-making. Technological advances, such as brain-imaging technology, enable researchers to probe the brain in unprecedented detail and are powering an explosion in neuroeconomics research.
“From studies on oxytocin to dopamine to the prefrontal cortex, there is no shortage of emerging neuroeconomics research on what makes humans tick,” said Melissa Van Dyke, IRF president. “Using Behavioral Economics Insights in Incentives, Rewards, and Recognition: The Neuroscience” curates and explains the research so that incentives, rewards and recognition professionals can use this knowledge to better understand what motivates employees and ultimately create more engaging and productive work environments.”
The most powerful neuroeconomics finding is that all forms of reward are processed in the brain’s master reward center, the striatum, and are experienced as rewarding feelings. This means rewarding employees intrinsically by treating them better or rewarding them extrinsically with money, trips or merchandise are treated equally in the brain. This important finding supports organizations shifting the emphasis in incentive programs to non-cash rewards to build more effective, fulfilling work environments.
Other key takeaways include:
- The Halo Effect informs us that more highly positive, emotional experiences increase positive emotion associated with the company.
- Emotional Stamps consist of the memories that aid their storage and retrieval and reinforce the necessity for incentive, rewards and recognition (IRR) programs to tap emotions.
- Frequency Bias suggests that the more reward and recognition happens within an organization, the more often it will continue to happen and feel like a normal part of business.
- Temporal Bias explains why meetings and incentive travel programs should always end on a high, emotional note.
- Drive to Bond promotes ensuring each instance of reward and recognition has a face-to-face element.
- Drive to Innovate explains why each instance of reward or recognition must help the employee learn the exact behaviors that are valued and important to the organization.
To download the full study, “Using Behavioral Economics Insights in Incentives, Rewards, and Recognition: The Neuroscience,” and the accompanying white paper “Translating the Neuroscience of Behavioral Economics into Employee Engagement,” click here.
To download the companion study, “Using Behavioral Economics Insights in Incentives, Rewards, and Recognition: A Nudge Guide,” or to download the white paper, “How to Effectively Harness Behavioral Economics to Drive Employee Performance and Engagement,” click here.