87% of Professionals In India Believe Sharing Emotions At Work Boosts Productivity And Morale: LinkedIn

* Gen Z and Millennials are leading the charge, feeling more comfortable than ever to open up at work

* LinkedIn launches ‘funny reaction’ for members to express humorous work moments

LinkedIn, the world’s largest online professional network, has released new research that uncovers the shift in how professionals are expressing themselves at work. Based on a survey of 2,188 professionals, the research reveals that more than 3 in 4 (76%) professionals in India feel more comfortable expressing their emotions at work post-pandemic. This shift is also being reflected on LinkedIn, which has seen a 28% rise in public conversations on the platform.*

Showing more emotions at work could be the secret to better staff morale in this hybrid world of work, with almost 9 in 10 (87%) agreeing that doing so makes them more productive and boosts feelings of belonging.

Emotions are now ‘professional’, but 7 in 10 say there is still stigma associated with it

Professionals in India are not holding back with their emotions and are becoming more vulnerable, with nearly two-thirds (63%) admitting to having cried in front of their boss – a third (32%) having done so on more than one occasion.

But as India warms up to expressing at work, 7 in 10 (70%) professionals in India believe there is a stigma around sharing feelings at work. Due to this, over a quarter of professionals in India are still worried about wearing their hearts on their sleeves out of a fear of looking weak (27%), unprofessional (25%), and being judged (25%). Unfairly, women are bearing the brunt more, with almost 4 in 5 (79%) professionals in India agreeing that women are often judged more in comparison to men when they share their emotions at work.

Gen Z and Millennials lead the way for opening up at work

Gen Z (73%) and millennials (79%) are leading the way in expressing themselves and feeling more comfortable than ever to open up at work. In comparison, just 20% of boomers (aged 58-60) share the same comfort with expressing themselves at work.

Gen Z (41%) and millennials (47%) have felt the benefits of flexible working too, as they agree it has encouraged them to open up more often in front of their colleagues. In fact, Gen Z (62%) and millennials (69%) are also seeing a stronger response from their online community, with around two-thirds saying they received more support when they opened up on LinkedIn.

3 in 5 professionals in India want more humour at work

Over three-quarters (76%) of professionals in India agree that “cracking a joke” at work is good for office culture, but more than half (56%) consider it to be ‘unprofessional’. Despite these mixed feelings, 9 in 10 (90%) professionals in India agree that humour is the most underused and undervalued emotion at work. In fact, more than 3 in 5 (61%) professionals want to see the use of more humour in general at the workplace.

Overall, professionals in South India are cracking the most jokes in the country, with over 2 in 5 (43%) doing so at least once a day, followed by professionals in the western (38%), eastern (37%), northern (36%) and northeastern (33%) parts of the country.

Around the world, Indian and Italian workers come out on top as the funniest workers globally, with over a third (38%) respectively cracking a joke at least once a day. Australian workers (29%) emerged as the least funny, even when compared to Germans (36%), Brits (34%), Dutch (33%) and the French (32%).

Keeping up with the shifts in the type of conversations that are now happening in the world of work, LinkedIn is launching a funny reaction to allow members to express humour and fun on the platform. This adds to the existing gamut of reactions that LinkedIn introduced in 2019 to help members visually express their sentiments on posts and articles. The funny reaction has been rolled out globally today.

Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn, said, “The past two years have been tumultuous to say the least but have also made people realise that they can be more vulnerable and candid with each other at work. This has become more apparent on LinkedIn, where people are not just talking shop but also expressing how they take care of themselves by setting new boundaries and balancing life with work. With humour at the heart of self-expression, our new funny reaction will allow members to express joy in response to a post or comment. This has been one of the most requested features from our members, and we’re excited to see how our laughing emoji will help them show their humorous sides at work, and on LinkedIn.”

Sanjeev NC, Co-Founder, Supermeme.ai, said, "Contrary to popular belief, humour has a big place in the professional world. In fact, it is an effective vehicle for your core message because, more often than not, humor helps cut through the noise. As an active social media buff, I was pleasantly but mildly surprised when my parody videos and memes were well received on a professional network like LinkedIn. And one comment that I’ve consistently seen on my posts is, ‘LinkedIn should add a laughter emoji’. I’m glad that LinkedIn has responded by rolling out a laughter reaction and I hope this will encourage creators to start infusing more humour into their content.”