Companies that pigeonhole workers into narrow, tight roles force them to draw on their weaknesses and spend energy staying within strict confines that limit their brain capital and company growth.

Employees are demanding more from their employers. Research shows that when organizations invest in a strategy to build employee brain capital, they enhance worker engagement, productivity and their own bottom line.

A study at the University of Toronto revealed that repeated listening to personally meaningful music cultivates beneficial brain plasticity improving memory and performance.

This research suggests that allowing employees to wear ear pods and listen to their favorite music while working can enhance brain capital.

Your brain needs rest just like your body does. Scientists have discovered that taking short breaks helps your brain learn new skills.

Microbreaks of five or 10 minutes give the brain a much-needed rest during work hours and helps you recharge and reset. It’s important that workers are allowed to take time to stretch, eat a snack or simply walk around the office to amp up engagement and productivity.

Science backed studies show that when you spend time in nature it’s good for your brain and well-being. Brain scans of people who spent time outdoors showed they had more gray matter in their prefrontal cortex with positive effects on their ability to think clearly and self-regulate.

This research underscores the importance of employees taking frequent nature breaks whether sitting outdoors or taking brief walks during the workday to give their brains a chance to recharge and reset.

The platform of a 21st century thriving company is one that encourages thinking outside the box, innovative ideas and employee individualism.

Studies suggest organizations that foster diversity, nonconformity and inventive ideas generate employee engagement and draw on employee strengths, adding to the prosperity of their businesses.

Fear and uncertainty have been undermining performance and well-being in the workplace for as long as we have had workplaces. Under fear, the human brain focuses on how to avoid the threat instead of engaging with and producing work tasks—blocking success outcomes.

Fear-based leadership is responsible for almost all of the dysfunction that most organizations experience. While fear can drive short-term results, it does so at the cost of high employee burnout and turnover.

A body of research has shown that various forms of meditation reduce stress. Mindfulness, in particular, keeps your mind from wandering and keeps your focus on work tasks.

Plus, if you meditate, even just for 20 minutes, it alters brain activity so you’re less error prone and make fewer mistakes.

Researchers found that having someone around whom you know you can talk to and will listen is tied to brain health and cognitive resilience.

Social support in the workplace is critical to build brain resilience. Whether its an empathetic manager, supportive coworker or someone in HR. A caring, empathetic workplace is a must to optimize brain capital.

Taken together these science-backed findings indicate that companies can reduce work stress and optimize employee brain capital by offering on-site meditation classes or providing quiet spaces for employees to meditate throughout the day.

Creating a psychologically safe and compassionate work environment where fear is absent and employees have someone to talk to who will listen, where employees have the freedom to take breaks when they need to, think outside the box, take nature walks and listen to music while they work—all add to a jump in productivity and the company’s bottom line.