Made public from McLean & Company, Dr. Dalton Kehoe contributes to build evidence-based HR practices that work with the brain, not against it, to gain credibility with stakeholders and drive business results.

1. McLean & Company 11
McLean & Company is a research and advisory firm that provides practical solutions
to human resources challenges with executable research, tools, and advice that will have a
clear and measurable impact on your business. © 1997-2016 McLean & Company.
McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group Inc.
Neuroscience and HR
Build evidence-based HR practices that work with the brain, not against it, to gain credibility
with stakeholders and drive business results.

2. A little about the contributor:
Follow me @Dr_Talk_
Connect on ca.linkedin.com/in/communicate4life
Dr. Dalton Kehoe has been a teacher, organizational change
practitioner and communications consultant for over 40
years.
Routinely voted one of the top teachers at York University,
and chosen by the province’s educational television network
as one of the best lecturers in the province, Dalton Kehoe is
a dynamic business speaker. He is also a top-rated instructor
in the Executive Education Center at the Schulich School of
Business at York University, where he trains executives from
leading companies.
Now the President of Communicate for Life, Ltd. a firm
dedicated to helping people to improve their workplace
communication skills.
Download the book!
Mindful Management: The
Neuroscience of Trust and Effective
Workplace Leadership
Quoted On Page 4, 10, 12, 34

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The effect of perceived threats on our performance negatively
impacts business performance:
• Perceived threats result in suboptimal processing in the
executive brain regions (the prefrontal cortex), which is
associated with activities like planning and rational
thought.
• Negative emotions like fear increase physiological arousal,
narrow focus, and restrict our ability to be creative and
productive.
(Hills, “Future of HR: Is It Time We Went Fear-Free?”)
Much of traditional HR and wider business practices are still
not brain-friendly
Many common and widely used business practices
trigger threat responses:
• Classic top-down management models, not telling
employees many daily work details, ignoring complaints,
expecting people to figure things out on their own, and
avoiding getting too close at work all evoke, at the neural
level, a sense of low-level threat. Employees back off and
disengage (Dr. Dalton Kehoe, McLean & Company interview).
• 47% of employees in the UK feel a sense of threat from
their leader (Martindale, “How can HR Use Neuroscience?” 2014).
!
Neuroscience research is clear―if the perception of threat is present, our performance is at risk!
The brainstem-limbic networks (shown below)
process threat and reward cues within a fifth of a
second, constantly forming nonconscious
intuitions automatically and quickly.
Threat responses generate far more arousal in
the limbic system, more quickly and with longer
lasting effects, than a reward response.
(Rock, 2008)

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Certainty: the importance of knowing what will
happen next
People practices impacted
Being able to predict what will happen next is one of the primary functions of our brain and the foundation
of intelligence.
Performance Management: Not fully understanding what is expected from you can trigger a threat response and
decrease your ability to perform.
Talent Management: Internal mobility programs may pose a threat response if they are not open and transparent.
HR Strategy: Change management initiatives need to be focused on reducing the level of uncertainty they bring in
order to reduce employees’ threat response and decrease the resistance to change. HR must also work with
stakeholders to effectively manage change across the organization, since many decisions are outside HR’s control.
Brain
response
Common workplace
triggers
Impact on
performance
Threat
Suspicion of dishonesty, not
knowing what is expected of
you, or lack of job security.
Attention diverted to
uncertainty, increased
distraction, and difficulty
focusing.
Reward
Establishing clear objectives,
making plans, and having
common agreements.
Clarity about what to
expect increases
dopamine levels in the
brain, making it easier to
focus on tasks.
When people don’t know what is
expected of them at work, their
engagement and satisfaction goes
down, and they don’t put themselves
into their work. Their energy goes
into self-protection.
- Dr. Dalton Kehoe, President,
Communicate for Life, Ltd. and
Senior Scholar of Communication
Studies, York University, McLean &
Company Interview

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Compliments light up the same
area in the brain as eating an ice-
cream cone. Even
compliments from a
complete stranger light up
the same reward centers in
the brain.
Relatedness: belonging to a social group, knowing
who is a friend or foe
People practices impacted
Performance Management: In traditional performance management appraisal programs, managers are viewed as
foes. Performance appraisals need to transition into performance conversations to reduce their threat.
HR Strategy: Corporate culture and organizational design need to encourage and support healthy and safe employee
relationships based on trust, honesty, and respect.
Employee Engagement: Research shows that having a close friend at work is central to engagement. Safe
social relationships with others play a key role in employee engagement (Rock, 2008).
Brain
response
Common workplace
triggers
Impact on performance
Threat
Meeting new people, cross-
cultural teams, or forming
“cliques” at work.
Capacity to empathize
drops, trust and
cooperation decrease,
and disregard for others’
ideas.
Reward
Shaking hands, talking
about something in
common, sharing personal
experiences, and having a
friend and/or mentor at work.
Established trust,
increased willingness to
collaborate and share
information, and
improved productivity.
We are social beings, needing safe human contact like we need food and water, and we tend to quickly
and automatically categorize those who are unlike us as foes.
- Dr. Dalton Kehoe, President, Communicate
for Life, Ltd. and Senior Scholar of
Communication Studies, York University,
McLean & Company Interview

6. McLean & Company 66
Market Basket discovers the power of
social connection in the workplace
Market Basket is a chain of 75 grocery stores in the United States.
CEO, Arthur T. DeMoulas, is well known for taking the time to personally connect
with his employees:
• He visits individual stores constantly to get to know his employees better; he
remembers birthdays, life events, and treats employees like family.
• Arthur pays his employees well above the national minimum wage.
• Arthur trusts his employees and gives them the freedom to make decisions
about how to manage their stores rather than dictating to them.
Situation
In June of 2014, the Board of Directors fired Arthur after a dispute over
compensation. Out of loyalty to Arthur, 20,000 employees went on strike to
protest his dismissal. Despite threats from management and not receiving
compensation, the strike lasted six weeks.
Action
Due to the employee strike, Market Basket lost 10 million dollars per week in
revenue. The Board relented and reinstated Arthur due to the pressure from
employees and customers.
Result
Key Takeaway
Social connections are incredibly
powerful in the workplace. Simple
acts of kindness build a strong
corporate culture.
Leaders who build a culture of
trust by taking the time to
connect personally with
employees on a regular basis
inspire loyalty and
commitment.
Source: Dr. Dalton Kehoe,
President, Communicate for Life,
Ltd. and Senior Scholar of
Communication Studies, York
University
Arthur took the time to
connect personally… As a
result, his employees will do
anything for him.
- Dr. Dalton Kehoe, McLean
& Company Interview

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Key Takeaways/Summary
• Neuroscience provides solid evidence that social skills play a central role in creating a productive and engaged workforce,
increasing innovation, and improving learning outcomes.
o Social needs are as important to our survival as physical needs. Social skills such as being consistently kind and
positive in the workplace have a much larger impact than has previously been recognized.
• Neuroscience, together with HR metrics, provides HR with the evidence needed to design effective HR practices
while gaining credibility and influence with organizational stakeholders.
o The human brain is wired to move away from threats and toward rewards, and most social interaction triggers one or
both of these responses. Threat responses generate far more arousal, more quickly and with longer lasting effects, than
a reward response. In addition, threat and reward cues are processed quickly and automatically so that we are
responding before we’re even aware. Therefore, knowing how threat is triggered in the workplace and how to
minimize it can significantly impact organizational performance.
– For example, organizations can use Rock’s SCARF model to reduce threats and increase rewards in five key areas:
status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness.
• Neuroscience doesn’t always provide new insights, but how it is applied is new:
o Performance Management: neuroscience reveals how to remove the threat and negative impact of traditional
performance appraisals and move toward agile performance conversations focused on growth, coaching, and
motivation.
o Learning & Development: neuroscience shows us the importance of designing short, learner-driven learning
experiences that are applied in daily work life.
o Workplace culture: neuroscience confirms the impact of a positive social workplace dynamic that reduces threats and
encourages social connection and effective team behaviors.
o Change management: neuroscience shows how to navigate change more effectively, such as being as transparent as
possible with employees and continuously keeping them updated on progress and expectations.

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