The Double-Edged Sword of Job Crafting

Job crafting occurs when employees mold their jobs to better fit their preferences and passions. Research has discovered the benefits that job crafting can have for employees, such as providing them with a sense of control and increasing their engagement. But how do employees react when their coworkers engage in job crafting? Recent research (Zhan et al., 2024) explored this question.

THE RESEARCH STUDY

Using 329 employees across various companies in southern China, the researchers collected data at three time points across several weeks. The researchers found that employees viewed coworkers’ job crafting as either a threat or a challenge to meet. This depended largely on whether employees were generally cooperative or competitive with coworkers. When employees maintained competitive goals with their coworkers, they were more likely to view a coworker’s job crafting as a threat. When employees had cooperative goals with coworkers, they tended to view a coworker’s job crafting as a challenge to meet.

Further, when employees viewed a coworker’s job crafting as a threat, they ostracized that coworker to a greater extent. When employees viewed their coworker’s job crafting as a challenge, they engaged in more proactive and helping behavior toward that coworker.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Organizations who want to implement the results of this research should do the following:

  • Offer all employees an equal opportunity to craft their jobs. This may alleviate the conflict or perceived unfairness that could occur when only some employees are allowed to make changes to their jobs.
  • If it is not possible to include all employees in job crafting opportunities, leaders should check in with the non-job-crafting employees to discuss their feelings and possible malcontent.
  • Help employees establish cooperative goals rather than competitive ones.
  • Provide training that helps employees reframe challenges or stressors as an opportunity for growth, rather than as a threat.

 

Zhan, X., Zhao, X., Hu, B., Li, Z., & Xia, J. (2024). Challenge or threat? Examining when and how employees react positively and negatively to coworkers’ job crafting. Journal of Business and Psychology, 39, 1413-1426.

Image credit: Unsplash+