Research has revealed the major role the neurotransmitter dopamine plays in reward-motivated behaviour. Evidence also suggests that the brain treats social needs in exactly the same way as basic survival needs (like the requirement for food and water).

So what does that translate into in terms of manager and subordinate behaviour in the workplace? It means that when a manager feeds back to subordinates – irrespective of whether that feedback is positive or negative - an emotional reaction is triggered in the part of the employee’s brain that controls survival.

Research shows that If an employee experiences ‘social pain’ as a result of, for example, being ignored or misunderstood a reaction fires in the area of the brain that registers physical pain. Conversely other studies have indicated a good relationship between a manager and employee stimulates an area in the brain that activates openness to new ideas.

In other words, whether it’s a positive or negative situation, dopamine is responsible for creating a response in the brain. And it’s these responses that are the forces driving human action and behaviour.

Neuroleadership and the SCARF model

This application of neuroscience to, amongst other things, leadership development and management training has been termed neuroleadership by Dr David Rock. His framework, The SCARF model, developed as a way of applying the growing insights from all the research into meaningful action for organisations.

Rock’s model refers to social needs which, as mentioned above, are now believed to be hardwired in the brain. The social needs Rock’s identified are status (your importance relative to others), certainty (your ability to predict the future), autonomy (your sense of control over events), relatedness (how connected and secure you feel with others) and fairness (how justly you think you’re treated).

All very interesting but is it really telling us anything new about motivation?

Yes. Because based on Rock’s model and other findings from neuroscience there’s a powerful argument developing that for years the approach to motivation has been completely wrong.

Traditionally, a job’s been viewed as a business transaction - do the work and get paid. But this research is making the case for a job being part of a social system where the brain is rewarded (or punished) based on how well the business environment is meeting an employee’s need for status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness.

What does this mean for motivation?

It means that to motivate employees effectively, you need to focus attention on increasing rewards and minimising threats in those areas. It means remembering that the brain’s survival instinct will kick in when it perceives a threat and it’ll act to move away from that threat much faster than it would move towards a perceived reward.

So ultimately it means you must design motivation strategies that appeal to the social aspect of the brain. Developing a sense of affiliation (teamwork, belonging, camaraderie and knowledge sharing) and providing positive feedback are potentially some of the most powerful motivators in the workplace.

The insights from research into neuroscience and human behaviour are giving HR professionals a huge opportunity to go in a new and more effective direction with strategies for motivation and employee engagement. Employee recognition programs were a great example of outdated thinking where manager control, monthly hand outs and the top 10% dominated.

However employee recognition is changing, it has evolved to become one of the must have employee engagement solutions in the HR arena. Most motivational methods still used today were developed in an era where work and workers were different.

Social employee recognition is different, combining various reward mechanics with the full employee participation creates a simple forum for the progress, purpose and competence reinforcements that help keep employees and managers engaged in, and passionate about, their work. Providing employees with the missing motivating emotional charges they get from, and for, their work.