A Curious Employee Is an Engaged Employee
Possessing a sense of curiosity is one of the most valuable attributes that corporate employees can own. A curious employee is more likely to become an engaged employee, one who embraces change, challenges the status quo, and feels comfortable forging new learning opportunities. Employees who are curious use this attitude to maintain a sense of wonder and appreciation of life.
In the business world, what is now considered the way things are done was at one time considered revolutionary. In other words, today’s status quo was once seen as a new change. We remind ourselves that today’s systems were yesterday’s innovations. Any new innovation is inspired through curiosity.
In our corporate culture, it can be easy for employees to become bored, disengaged, discontented, and lackadaisical when daily routine become automatic and mindless. It becomes difficult to stay present and focused. Our full attention becomes elusive. Left unchecked, business models that do not infuse the opportunity for curiosity and innovation are liable to find a stagnant, disengaged culture. These employees become uninspired to move the company forward.
Recent psychological studies have confirmed that individuals who stay curious are more likely to find success in their careers. If a workplace becomes too boring, they move on. A curious employee is a great asset for any business looking to improve.
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A curious employee is more likely to enthusiastically engage in learning new tasks on the job. They separate themselves from the disengaged employees, whose attitude indicates that they are not interested in expanding future horizons. The curious ones embrace a continued childlike amazement to the world around them and are awestruck at possibilities. They maintain that sense of wonder, keenly observing new capabilities and always ready to experience new things.
So how do leaders keep employees curious at work? Obviously, as the employees become more familiar with their job expectations, they develop a greater level of expertise and stop asking questions about how and why things are done in specific way. They become compliant with the organization’s processes. In order to stay curious, it is important to continue to ask questions, to look for ways to improve the processes. Smart leaders inspire their employees to become problem-solvers and to ask questions that dig deeper into the strategy.
Sure, businesses have time constraints and workers need to work efficiently as they work effectively, but no business will maintain a competitive edge unless it inspires its talent to ask questions and stay curious.
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