Neuroscience and business are two terms that increasingly go hand in hand. It is not uncommon to hear terms such as neuromarketing, neuro-sales or neuroeconomics in the business world. New discoveries in neuroscience, as well as contributing to the development of society in general, also help companies to generate profits and thus help the economy to grow.
In this post we bring together some tips related to neuroscience and business to apply in the workplace, i.e. in the work of the Human Resources department.
Neuroscience and business: cognition
When we talk about cognition, we refer to those capacities that allow us to be aware of the environment around us. Examples include attention and memory.
Neuroscience has a lot to tell us about this, and this is the source of many tips such as the following:
- Our brain unconsciously directs its attention to everything that changes or moves. Knowing this, it is clear that, in order to prevent distractions, For example, if one of our employees is bright, but absent-minded, his performance will be improved if his workplace is away from any window facing outside, where birds, cars or any other stimuli can appear. For example, if one of our employees is bright, but absent-minded, his performance will improve if his workplace is away from any windows that look outside, where birds, cars or any other distracting stimuli may appear.
- Sustained attention fluctuates, i.e., it is impossible to maintain the concentration to the maximum for an indefinite period of time. In general, a couple of minutes of rest every thirty minutes of work is recommended, but this will vary depending on the person and the activity they are carrying out at any given time. What is clear is that, after this short break we give the brain, performance will be greater than if we do not take the break it is demanding.
- When we have other worries on our minds, our brain splits its attention between the attention and concentration between these and work. As a company, we can relax certain concerns for our employees. For example, a common concern is saving for certain expenses such as childcare or transport to the office. Solutions such as the flexible compensation can relax these emotional tensions and thus enable our employees' attention and concentration to be increased.
- Memory is another important variable at work. In fact, there is the term working memory to refer to the storage and retrieval of information for a short period of time, that which is necessary to be able to carry out a task. It is the memory we use to keep in mind a telephone number we have just been given until we write it down or to remember that, after finishing task A, we must urgently move on to task B. Working memory is undoubtedly essential for any employee, so we should encourage the training of this capacity through games such as Simon.
Neuroscience and business: emotion
When it comes to neuroscience and business, emotion is as important as cognition, if not more so. If emotions dominate our brain, the cognitive part will not be able to fully function and the cognitive part of the brain will not be able to function. productivity will decline.
For this reason, we offer the following tips on emotion, neuroscience and business:
- A positive working environment contributes to improved performance. When we are in a hostile environment, our brains focus on avoiding potential threats and therefore cannot focus on working optimally. Cultivating a work climate in which pleasant emotions such as joy reign should therefore be a priority for every HR department.
- We should also know that the effects of painful emotions The effects of pleasant emotions last longer than the effects of pleasurable emotions. This means that, in the face of a reprimand, employees will remain on the defensive for longer than they remain in high spirits in the face of a compliment. It is important to be very measured in how we handle calls for attention and what words we use in them.
- The stress is one of the most common painful emotions in today's business world. What is less well known, however, is the fact that stress does not affect everyone in the same way. There are those who feel stressed when faced with a heavy workload, but there are also those who feel stressed, or bored, when the workload is light. Therefore, the HR department must get to know each of its employees very well in order to adapt the level of demand to them.
We hope these neuroscience and business tips will contribute to improving performance in your business.
