Studies

Research highlights that employee satisfaction is no longer optional but imperative to organizational success, with a clear connection between leadership, employee engagement and elevated performance, including profitability and sales outcomes.

In the past year alone, low engagement is estimated to have cost the global economy $10 trillion in lost productivity, or 9% of GDP, according to the world's largest ongoing study of employee experience.

This challenge, however, presents a powerful opportunity. Many great leaders are seizing this moment to implement measures to improve psychological safety, trust, and emotional well-being, thereby increasing engagement and productivity. 

The need for action goes beyond business metrics - this is a defining moment for leaders globally to demonstrate their values. By fostering thriving workplaces, organizations can unleash innovation, collaboration, and shared successes that allows all parties to thrive.

Studies on Neuroscience and Neuroleadership

Cambridge University Press - 2026
Neuroleadership in HRM - A systematic Review

By analyzing 422 studies from 2005-2025 this review finds that neuroleadership - applying brain-based insights to leadership - is reshaping modern HR toward people-centered, sustainability-oriented practice. Social cognition (34%), emotional regulation (24%), and decision-making (16%) are the dominant leadership capabilities, most strongly linked to learning & development and employee engagement. A striking 77% of research now aligns with sustainability-driven HRM, prioritizing well-being, psychological safety, and long-term value, over traditional performance-control models. The core leadership takeaway: skills like empathy, emotional regulation, and adaptive decision-making are no longer soft - they are the primary mechanisms driving organizational resilience and performance.

Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International - 2021
Exploring the Role of Neuroscience in Talent Management

Emerging research reveals that neuroscience can significantly sharpen how leaders attract, develop, and retain talent. Brain-based insights show that psychological safety, autonomy, fairness, and positive reinforcement - captured in the SCARF model - directly regulate performance through neurochemicals like dopamine and oxytocin. HP reported a 22% engagement increase after implementing a growth-mindset program rooted in these principles. Leaders who embed positive feedback cultures, brain-friendly learning, and inclusive neurodiversity hiring gain measurable competitive advantage. The core takeaway: understanding how the brain responds to threat, reward, and recognition is now a strategic leadership capability, not merely an HR consideration.

ResearchGate - 2020 
Applying Neuroscience to Talent Management - The Neuro Talent Management

This report highlights how brain-based insights can enhance employee engagement, decision-making, and performance. It shows that understanding cognitive processes, emotional regulation, and motivation improves hiring, learning, and leadership development outcomes. Neuroscience-informed approaches help organizations design roles, feedback systems, and environments that align with how people think and behave, increasing productivity and wellbeing. The findings suggest these methods strengthen manager effectiveness and employee experience, addressing common gaps in traditional talent practices. Overall, integrating neuroscience into talent management offers a transformative pathway to more adaptive, human-centered organizations, improving performance, engagement, and long-term organizational success.

Studies on Employee Experience

Gallup - 2026
State of the Workplace 2026 Report

The world's largest study on employee experience, engagement, wellbeing, and AI's impact on organizational performance finds global employee engagement fell to 20% in 2025, costing the global economy an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity. Managers are identified as critical to driving productivity, particularly in AI adoption. Drawing on survey data from 140+ countries, the report shows that while AI boosts individual productivity, organizational impact remains limited due to leadership and implementation gaps. It concludes thateffective management, employee engagement, and meaningful work are key to improving performance and navigating the evolving future of work.


Gallup - 2026 
Employee Wellbeing is Key for Workplace Productivity

This Gallup article defines employee wellbeing as a holistic measure spanning five elements - career, social, financial, physical, and community - and positions it as a leading indicator of organizational performance and resilience. It finds that poor wellbeing carries significant professional and economic costs, including $20 million in lost opportunity per 10,000 employees, $322 billion globally from burnout-related turnover and productivity loss, and 15% to 20% of payroll lost to voluntary turnover. Employees who are engaged but not thriving face 61% higher burnout risk and 48% higher daily stress. The analysis concludes that sustained wellbeing is essential for productivity, retention, and long-term organizational effectiveness.


Harvard Health Publishing
Understanding the Stress Response

This article explains the physical stress response as a rapid, hormone-driven “fight-or-flight” mechanism that elevates heart rate, breathing, and energy supply within seconds. It finds that modern professional demands - such as deadlines, workload, and job insecurity - activate the same biological system as physical threats. While useful in acute situations, repeated activation in workplace contexts is linked to high blood pressure, arterial plaque buildup, and brain changes associated with anxiety, depression, and addiction. The article identifies sustained stress exposure as a key risk to performance, noting its contribution to poor sleep, reduced physical activity, and overeating, all of which can undermine productivity, decision-making, and long-term occupational effectiveness.

World Economic Forum - in collaboration with McKinsey Health Institute - 2025
Thriving Workplaces: How Employers can Improve Productivity and Change Lives

This report finds that investing in employee health and wellbeing drives productivity, resilience, and long-term economic value, up to $11.7 trillion globally. It highlights declining workforce health from burnout, chronic disease, and changing work patterns (remote and tech-driven), with only 57% reporting good holistic health. Health spans mental, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions, with major demographic and industry disparities. Productivity losses are driven mainly by presenteeism and disengagement. Solutions include data-driven measurement, tailored interventions, stronger leadership, and embedding wellbeing into culture and job design, aligning health with business performance and ESG goals.

MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Institute of Work and Employee Research) - 2025
Work and Well-Being: An IWER Research Compendium

This compendium of studies and articles are a collection of studies on work and well-being conducted by MIT Institute  scholars and colleagues from other universities, such as Harvard University, Penn State University, Michigan State University and University of Oxford.

Cornerstone OnDemand - 2026
2026 Skills Economy Report

The global skills economy is being fundamentally remade by AI, automation, green transition, and demographic shifts. AI & machine learning demand surged +245%, making technical fluency a baseline expectation across every role - not just tech jobs. Critically, every position now demands a 50/50 balance of technical and human capabilities: emotional intelligence (+95%), resilience (+42%), creative thinking (+18%), and leadership (+28%) are rising sharply. Meanwhile, routine skills like data entry (-75%) and customer service (-45%) are rapidly eroding. With 74% of employers unable to find qualified talent and $11.5 trillion lost annually to skills gaps, leaders must treat workforce capability as a strategic growth asset and an opportunity to rise above their competition.

Gallup - 2025
State of the Workplace 2025 Report

A global workplace report analyzing employee engagement, wellbeing, emotions, and job market perceptions across regions finds that global engagement has declined to around 20%, driven primarily by falling manager engagement. While about one-third of employees report thriving, stress and negative emotions remain widespread, and job market confidence, though slightly improved, varies considerably across regions. The report identifies management quality as the strongest driver of both engagement and performance, noting that disengaged managers create a ripple effect that reduces productivity across entire teams. It concludes that stronger leadership, deeper engagement, and more meaningful work are essential to reversing the decline and improving performance in an evolving global workplace.