The report defines curiosity as the impulse to seek new information and experiences and explore novel possibilities, highlighting the importance of this trait no matter an employee's role or level within their organization. This importance and emphasis on curiosity as a workplace skill is evident in the increased prevalence and engagement around this trait on LinkedIn. The report highlights how curiosity has gained traction amid growing demand for this skill. According to LinkedIn data, year-over-year there has been a 158% increase in engagement with posts, shares and articles mentioning curiosity, 90% growth in job postings that mention curiosity, and 87% growth in the mention of skills related to curiosity.
In today’s environment of the Great Resignation, managers globally as well as in India are finding it especially challenging to keep employee morale and motivation high, with 64% of Indian managers citing this as a difficulty. Over half of Indian managers face challenges retaining good employees (59%), getting employees to push beyond just basic job duties (56%) and driving cross-collaboration with other teams and departments (55%). However, many of the benefits associated with curiosity directly address these key business challenges and concerns. The Indian managers surveyed agreed that the benefits of curiosity include greater efficiency and productivity (65%), improved creative thinking (63%), stronger collaboration and teamwork (61%), and greater employee engagement and job satisfaction (62%).
Most Indian managers agree that curiosity is particularly valuable when innovating new solutions (61%), tackling complex problems (55%), and analyzing data (56%), making it an important trait for fueling data insights and integration. Those employees in India who are considered more curious also note their employer is significantly more advanced in digital transformation (69% vs. 44% among those who rate low in curiosity). These Indian employees also frequently use more data sources in their roles, particularly those that help them better understand their customers (61%), performance (64%), and employees (64%).
For their business to succeed in the next three years, Indian managers say their organization needs employees with technical expertise in areas of artificial intelligence (67%) and data analysis (65%) as well as personal attributes like creative thinking (67%), problem-solving (64%).
“Our research, coupled with LinkedIn’s data, depicts significant value of curiosity across a wide range of applications both India as well as globally. Curiosity is now considered a crucial business imperative that can help companies in addressing imminent business challenges, as well as encourage collaboration, creativity and foster innovation,” said Kunal Aman, Head-Marketing & Communications, SAS India. “Furthermore, curiosity is intrinsic to workplace success and managers especially in India need to further harness this skill and nurture it across employee levels to succeed in workplace.”
While the majority of managers surveyed globally and in India believe curiosity is valuable, many face challenges including fostering and encouraging this skill. Even if Indian managers feel they are equipped to identify this trait, many say it is challenging to develop curiosity in employees who don't naturally have it (50%) and struggle with connecting curiosity to job performance (45%) and business impact (46%).
In addition, not all managers and companies in India consistently agree with the inherent value of curiosity, voicing concerns about potential drawbacks of curiosity in the workplace. Close to half of the managers surveyed (46%) go as far as to say they believe current employees and applicants have too much curiosity, and a similar proportion report concern for curiosity leading to increased risk of errors or bad decisions (43%), greater difficulty taking action (44%) and challenges managing employees (43%). With these findings, the report highlights a disconnect in the perceived benefits of curiosity and organizations' potential to harness and utilize this skill among employees, showcasing an urgent need for companies to effectively encourage, recognize and utilize curiosity or risk falling behind.
One way to mitigate these challenges is to look to organizations and managers who rate high in curiosity as an example. Furthermore, Curiosity is integral to workplace success and career advancement – and this is one area where companies across India can further encourage this trait. Also, the study found that companies in India lead most other markets globally in the formal inclusion of curiosity (or similar traits) in:
- Promotion or advancement decisions (78% in India vs. 66% globally)
- Company training and development (78% in India vs. 71% globally)
- Employee performance review criteria (77% in India vs. 70% globally)
- Hiring criteria (77% in India vs. 66% globally)
Categorizing Indian managers into curiosity-minded segments
The report categorizes the managers surveyed into four curiosity-minded segments:
Managers in India can be categorized as:
- High Curiosity Collaborators (36% of managers). The most curious segment. These managers value collaboration, are teamwork driven and are relentless in finding answers. They do this through listening and valuing co-workers' ideas and continuously seeking opportunities to expand skills but are more hesitant when new challenges present themselves. Focused on curiosity, these managers believe this trait leads to greater efficiency and productivity at work and results in greater job satisfaction.
- Curiosity Skeptical Opinion Seekers (30% of managers). These managers embrace challenges, and the possibility of being distressed does not impact their motivation. Curiosity leads to greater flexibility and adaptability during times of uncertainty and can bring more empathy and inclusivity to workplaces. These managers do not believe that curiosity leads to a boost in efficiency or overall team performance.
- Productivity-Focused Leaders (22% of managers). These managers believe curiosity can lead to stronger collaboration and teamwork and help increase efficiency and productivity in the workplace. They do not, however, believe curiosity drives inclusivity and diversity of thought.
- Anti-Curiosity Leaders (12% of managers). The smallest segment, these managers do not believe curiosity adds any value to performance or the workplace.
For more insights into the Curiosity@Work report findings, please visit the Curiosity@Work website.
Methodology
- SAS conducted a global survey of managers to understand curiosity's value, impact, and prevalence within organizations. Managers were defined as individuals with three or more direct reports. The managers currently work in one of five industries: financial services, retail/consumer goods, manufacturing, healthcare/life sciences, or government. This study took place in six countries: Brazil, Germany, India, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States. In total, 1,973 managers were surveyed globally online from August 19 to September 5, 2021. The India findings are based on data collected from participating respondents in India (n = 454).
- In conjunction with this original research, SAS also partnered with LinkedIn to analyze the conversation surrounding curiosity on its platform. This was accomplished through an analysis of posts (including job postings) and jobs skills over the last year (periods July 1, 2019 – July 31, 2020, and August 1, 2020 – August 30, 2021) for mentions of curiosity keywords and engagement with posts mentioning these themes.
