Why are so Many Leaders Science Deniers?

Creativity, innovation, productivity, and collaboration thrive when leaders follow the evidence. Why do so few?

Photo by Chromatograph on Unsplash

Study after study after study says exactly the same thing: when employees work on teams and with leaders who help them learn, value their contributions, and create environments where respectful candour is encouraged, levels of engagement, productivity, and collegiality are significantly higher.

In other words, when employees are treated well, they are happier at work, get more done, and collaborate better — all facets that contribute to a successful organization.

When you add to this having a say over where work is performed, employee levels of satisfaction are even higher, according to large-scale study of 12,455 respondents that demonstrated the ability to work remotely is positively linked to happiness at work. Further, following the pandemic when staff were mandated to return to the office, research found employees stripped of being able to choose where they worked were relatively unhappy at work, regardless of the type of work they performed.

So much is known about creating the conditions for success in the workplace, yet recent data from Robert Half Canada suggests half of working Canadians say they’re…