Does your “male” or “female” brain affect Employee Engagement?

Men and women are different. (Fact) So are male and female brains.

The brain allows us think and display emotions. It typically acts with a mind of its own and it craves for a sense of belonging, certainty and information. (Fact)

Neuroscience is the study of how the nervous system develops, its structure, and what it does. Neuroscientists focus on the brain and its impact on behaviour and cognitive function (Fact).

Neuroscience provides sufficient evidence that employee engagement is not just “fluffy” HR talk. (Fact)

Researchers and scientists have shown that there are many subtle differences in the way male and female brains process language, communication, stress, mathematical information, emotion, cognition etc. From simple observation, we can come to the conclusion that the brains’ gender difference does not mean a superiority or inferiority relationship exist between men and women. 

There is however a strong link between how our brains work and how it impacts employee engagement.

Based on this well researched truth, a model for understanding and influencing our interactions with others called the S.C.A.R.F framework was proposed by Dr David Rock – co-founder and director of the Neuro Leadership Institute.

Status (S): Do we provide “importance” to others and in the work they do?

Certainty (C): Is there clarity and direction? Are people future-focused?

Autonomy (A): How are we getting employees to take on more responsibility and get involved in decision making?

Relatedness (R): Is there a sense of trust and sufficient respect for the individual?

Fairness (F): Do our team members feel there is fairness between people or are they constantly put in a state of threat and discomfort in the workplace?

“When all five domains are strongly contributing towards reward, you experience a high level of engagement with an element of resilience to stress. This is often seen in inspirational leaders and visionaries who are also successful in engaging others”.

So for any of us to be engaged at work, we must feel a sense of reward and control over our workload. This reward does not have to be monetary. It can be the awareness and recognition by our supervisor that our efforts have a direct impact on the organisation’s mission. This is true whether you are male or female. As long as your brain can interpret your experience at work as rewarding to you and others, you won’t feel dissatisfied or disengaged at work. The bottom line is that employee engagement is not gender determined.

To most people, Engagement is driven by outside events but per Gallup, employee engagement has barely budged since 2000. There have been financial crisis, wars, terrorist attacks but none have impacted employee engagement the way the actions in our workplaces and within our four walls have done. Irrespective of gender, leverage S.C.A.R.F and consider the impact of your actions on the brains of your team members which triggers positive or negative states.

By the way, who is “unintentionally” sinking your ship and causing disengagement at your organisation? What are you doing about it?

Ngozi Adebiyi is the Lead consultant at OutsideIn HR, a firm that focuses on practical interventions that address the challenges of businesses today. The Firm also specialises in HR Business Partnering, Engagement & Retention with the goal of “Revolutionising HR in Nigeria

Ngozi Adebiyi