Professionals in India feel more comfortable expressing their emotions at work post the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by LinkedIn.

The professional networking platform has released new research that uncovers the shift in how professionals are expressing themselves at work, based on a survey of 2,188 professionals.

More than three in four (76 per cent) professionals feel more comfortable expressing their emotions at work post-pandemic, says the report. 

The platform has also witnessed a 28 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise in public conversations on the platform as of April 2022.

“Showing more emotions at work could be the secret to better staff morale in this hybrid world of work,” the report said.

Eighty-seven per cent of professionals agreed that sharing emotions at work makes them more productive and boosts morale.

Further, nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) admitted to having cried in front of their boss – a third (32 per cent) having done so on more than one occasion.

Stigma

While emotions may now be ‘professional’, 7 in 10 (70 per cent) respondents said there is still 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 per cent), unprofessional (25 per cent), and being judged (25 per cent),” it said.

Women bear the brunt of this trend, with 4 in 5 (79 per cent) professionals 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 

Gen Z (73 per cent) and millennials (79 per cent) leadthe way in expressing themselves and feeling more comfortable than ever to open up at work, compared to 20 per cent of boomers (aged 58-60), who shared the same comfort with expressing themselves at work.

Gen Z (41 per cent) and millennials (47 per cent) have felt the benefits of flexible working, too, as they say it has encouraged them open up more often in front of their colleagues, the report said.

Gen Z (62 per cent) and millennials (69 per cent) 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.

Humour at work

Further, more than three-quarters (76 per cent) of professionals agreed that “cracking a joke” at work was good for office culture, but more than half (56 per cent) considered it to be ‘unprofessional’. 

Despite these mixed takes on humour at work, 9 in 10 (90 per cent) professionals in India agreed that humour is the most underused and undervalued emotion at work. Additionally, more than 3 in 5 (61 per cent) professionals wanted to see 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 per cent) doing so at least once a day, followed by professionals in the western (38 per cent), eastern (37 per cent), northern (36 per cent) and north-eastern (33 per cent) parts of the country.

Across the globe, Indian and Italian workers topped the list as the funniest workers globally, with over a third (38 per cent) respectively cracking a joke at least once a day. 

Australian workers (29 per cent) emerged as the least funny, even when compared to the Germans (36 per cent), Brits (34 per cent), Dutch (33 per cent) and the French (32 per cent).

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,” added Gupta.

LinkedIn has now launched a 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 express their sentiments on posts and articles. The funny reaction has been rolled out globally today

“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,” Gupta said.

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