A curious employee is worth their weight in gold

"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” The words are Albert Einstein’s. And he’s definitely onto something. Because curiosity is a key motivator—and a necessity—for acquiring new knowledge. Most great innovations and inventions created throughout history have one thing in common: They are the result of curiosity, which goes hand-in-hand with passion, which in turn improves our learning and our memory.

Research shows that a company that encourages curiosity in its employees both performs and adapts better. But why is that? A curious person who is passionate about something takes the initiative more often than others. Perhaps that’s why job ads increasingly contain the word curiosity as one of the qualities companies are looking for in employees. An analysis conducted by finn.no, one of Norway’s biggest employment portals, shows that the word curiosity in job ads has increased by 150% in recent years. In other words, curiosity is a personality trait that companies increasingly value in their employees.

Much of what we do in our daily lives is done on autopilot, which is efficient and saves a lot of energy, but it suppresses our curiosity. An employee who asks inquisitive questions and has suggestions for new solutions to things can thus be worth their weight in gold to an employer. In addition, inquisitive people are more positive to change—which is a necessity on a job market that is constantly changing and evolving.