126: Paul J. Zak - The Neuroscience of Employee Engagement and Satisfaction
Paul J. Zak is a Professor and Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University. Paul is the Founder of Immersion Neuroscience a company that enables measurement of immersion in experiences in real-time. He has authored books including Immersion and The Trust Factor. Paul emphasizes customer lifetime value and the effect of creating extraordinary experiences for customers and employees. He discusses the neuroscience linking trust, psychological safety, and employee engagement to improved business outcomes. Paul highlights emotional fitness and how leaders creating empathetic, trust-based cultures enable employees to flourish, boosting their satisfaction and well-being.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:43] Paul studies mathematics, biology, and neuroscience to understand human behavior.
[03:21] ‘Why are we nice to each other?’ has been a core area of study in Paul’s lab.
[04:00] Humans are naturally group-oriented and thrive when working collaboratively.
[05:35] Creating extraordinary employee experiences is key to engagement and performance.
[06:52] Paul focuses on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) supported by strong employee engagement.
[07:40] Improved customer service helps customers and can boost employee satisfaction too.
[10:12] Businesses must focus on retaining talent by fostering employee growth and satisfaction.
[11:15] Paul advocates for a coaching model of leadership that encourages autonomy.
[12:06] Trust with psychological safety allows employees to be comfortable and burn less neurologic energy.
[13:46] Leaders must create environments for people to flourish, not expecting consistency.
[14:39] The "Whole Person Review" is forward-looking focusing on professional, personal, and spiritual growth.
[16:56] With empathy and trust closely related, leaders best recognize employees as humans with emotions and personal lives.
[18:12] Paul enjoys daily huddles fostering team connection and alignment at work.
[19:04] Leaders benefit from in-person interactions to build and sustain relationships.
[22:04] What experiences do people value? Offer the office as a social emotional hub.
[24:24] Six peak immersion moments per day lasting three minutes build emotional fitness.
[24:56] Adding a social layer to any experience increases neurologic immersion and satisfaction.
[25:32] Video conference interactions achieve 50- 80% of the value of in-person interactions.
[28:35] Leaders need to understand brain responses to nurture psychological safety.
[29:20] Teams of 15-20 perform better because individuals can maintain strong connections.
[30:09] Creating an environment where people can flourish and be fully engaged at work and outside work.
[32:18] Eight factors generate peak immersion moments so employees can adjust assignments with their supervisor.
[33:09] A Google employee finds she loves coaching and moves to Facebook to mentor developers.
[34:38] Crafting jobs that challenge people—to do what is hard to master but achievable.
[35:40] Conversations about investing in professional development—a key trust factor.
[37:50] Train extensively then delegate generously to give people control over their work lives.
[38:41] Autonomy and job satisfaction improved when hospital nurses had more decision-making power in patient care.
[41:12] Leaders should model behaviors they want to see.
[43:52] Stress is not bad—manageable challenges can stimulate engagement and bonding.
[44:42] Paul’s skydiving experiences and his oxytocin and stress levels inverted over time.
[46:05] Challenges at work enable employees to perform at their best and achieve satisfaction.
[47:02] Create environments where employees can flourish, be safe, have immersion moments, and connect with each other.
[49:14] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: For a longer happier life, invest time in things that excite and engage you to build up emotional fitness and resilience. Emotional fitness motivates people to exercise more, eat and sleep better which improves health and extends life span.
RESOURCES
Paul’s company Immersion’s website
Paul’s books “Immersion”, “The Trust Factor”, “The Moral Molecule”
QUOTES (edited)
“If employees do not love what they're doing, they're just not going to perform as well. So how do I create this environment where employees can really flourish and share that with customers?”
“You have this kind of inverted pyramid where leadership is at service of the individual--employees who are creating value. Then you see this great connection with the company's purpose.”
“If we can create an environment where employees have this real sense of mission, they're connected to the purpose of the organization, they're working in an environment where they really can flourish professionally, then when they come home, they actually are more satisfied with their lives outside of work.”
“If I understand an employee as a leader—you're not human capital, you're a human being—you have emotions, you have a personal life. Hopefully, you love what you do here, you feel like you're fairly compensated and you're excited about how we improve our customers' lives. If I recognize all of that, then I'm going to be much more of a guide or a coach and less of a top-down micromanager.”
“I have to have this empathy of intolerance for the kind of weirdness of human beings!”
“Am I creating this environment of psychological safety where people are sufficiently comfortable, so they have the brain bandwidth to be fully in on the tasks they're doing?”
“From a psychological perspective, when people have control over their work lives, they have greater job satisfaction. They don't get burned out as often. And when an employee is trained, then they need some discretion on how they execute their job.”
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