<ul><li>Managers should formally work curiosity into learning goals as part of employee performance.</li><li>Curiosity causes us to ask and engage and talk across differences, so we can work to leverage our unique perspectives.</li><li>Another way to spur curiosity is through managers modeling it themselves.</li></ul>

How managers can put curiosity to work

Curiosity can help employees perform better, reduce stress and burnout, and forge meaningful connections at work.At a time when companies are struggling to re-engage an exhausted workforce and retain workers in a tight job market, managers can tap into curiosity to help boost employee happiness and jumpstart innovation.

Curiosity and employee experience

<ul><li>In a study, after receiving the curiosity-piquing missives, employees were more likely to send messages to people outside their immediate departments and to people in the company they'd never contacted before.</li><li>The "network churn" increased by 19 percentage points in response to an additional "curiosity" email, compared to 14 percentage points for executives in the control group.</li></ul>

Curiosity broadens networks

<ul><li>In a second study, the research team applied the same approach to about 300 adults in a variety of industries but used text messages instead of email.</li><li>When asked about their networking afterward, respondents reported reaching out to more new contacts when their curiosity was piqued-on average 7.3 new contacts over a month compared to 4.5 for those who did not receive the messages.</li></ul>

Little nudges with big impact

<ul><li>Many organizations try to get employees to mix within and across groups, hoping new insights will emerge.</li><li>Social anxiety hampers some people from stretching themselves.</li><li>Productivity goals can also get in the way of workers following an intriguing idea.</li><li>Employees worry they risk being criticized if they pursue novel ideas on the clock.</li></ul>

Networking can be awkward

People are worn out after two years of upheaval. Research by Francesca Gino shows how stoking curiosity can help employees not only re-engage with their work, but find more happiness.

How managers can put curiosity to work

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