Neuroscience as a basis for HR practices

The purpose of the paper is to show how insights from recent research in neuroscience into how the human brain works helps to understand how HR practices can be more effective.

The paper is based on the book “The Fear-Free Organization: Vital insights from neuroscience to transform your business culture” by Brown et al. (2015) published by Kogan Page.

HR practitioners need to understand that all human thought, action and feeling are based on emotion. HR practices that trigger emotions related to escape/avoidance (fear, anger, disgust, shame and sadness) are counter-productive because the individual will focus on surviving rather than thriving. It is much more effective to engage the emotions related to attachment/growth (excitement/joy and trust/love).

Practical examples are given for HR practices in recruitment, resourcing, performance appraisal, leadership training and change programmes.

The article is one of the first to explicitly link the effectiveness of HR practices with understanding how the human brain works, based on insights from neuroscience.