Your engagement can drop for all sorts of reasons. For example, because of too little challenge in your work (boreout), too much pressure (burnout) or because things have got into a rut. Fortunately, you don't have to wait for that. You can take matters into your own hands by reshaping your work. That is called job crafting.
By organising your work differently, you give it new meaning. That can bring new enjoyment in your work, more effectiveness and better motivation. Your engagement rises again, and your organisation benefits too. In this article, you will read how to go about it.
What is job crafting?
The term comes from American researchers Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton. In 2001, they showed that employees don't just carry out their work as described in the job description. They also change things about it themselves: their tasks, their contacts with others and the way they look at their work. Wrzesniewski & Dutton
So job crafting is not a big top-down change programme. It is often small adjustments that you make yourself, in consultation.
Fed up with your job? Make it enjoyable again!
If you no longer feel like doing your work, you can do two things. You stop and look for another job, which isn't always easy. Or you breathe new life into your current job. You do that by making your work fit your own needs, interests and talents better. That requires you to look honestly at your current situation, and to believe that you can do something about it. You are not necessarily stuck with your job profile.
Where do I start?
First look at your current situation. Ask yourself questions such as these:
- Which tasks give me energy and which mainly cost me energy?
- Which colleagues do I like working with, and who gives me little energy?
- What do I think of my work and my colleagues, and why do I actually do this work?
- Do I work mainly to put bread on the table, or do I want to grow and build a career?
What forms of job crafting are there?
Once you have mapped this out, you can think about how to reorganise your work. Wrzesniewski and Dutton distinguish three forms.
Changing your tasks
You change the number or type of tasks in your work. For example, you take on tasks that suit you better and pass other tasks on to a colleague who enjoys them. Or you drop tasks that really don't make you happy, if that is possible.
Changing your relationships
You change the contacts you have at work. Perhaps you notice that certain collaborations mainly cost you energy. Then you can choose to limit them somewhat. You can also look for new contacts: a colleague from another department who inspires you, or someone who can coach you.
Looking at your work differently
You look again at what your work means. Ask others what they think of your work and how important it is to them. That gives you a new picture of what your work delivers and you will value it more. Also read purpose gives your work value.
And your workplace?
Your working environment and working hours also make a difference. Fed up with your workplace? Then see whether you can arrange it differently, or agree that you will work somewhere else a bit more often. Are you stuck in traffic every day because of your working hours? By starting and stopping a little earlier, you avoid a lot of stress.
What does the research say?
Dutch researchers Maria Tims, Arnold Bakker and Daantje Derks developed a questionnaire to measure job crafting. They distinguish four types of behaviour:
- Increasing structural job resources, such as developing yourself and learning new things.
- Increasing social job resources, such as asking your manager for feedback or coaching.
- Increasing challenging job demands, such as taking on a new project when things are quiet.
- Decreasing hindering job demands, such as making sure your work becomes less mentally demanding.
Their research showed that mainly the first three go together with more work engagement. Tims, Bakker & Derks
A 2017 meta-analysis by Cort Rudolph and colleagues, based on 122 samples, confirms that picture. Job crafting is clearly linked to work engagement, job satisfaction and performance. Rudolph et al. That fits the Job Demands-Resources model by Wilmar Schaufeli and colleagues: people with more job resources in their work become engaged sooner. Schaufeli
Get started with job crafting!
Now that you know which steps you can take, you can get started. Of course, you can't entirely decide for yourself what you do and don't do. So do it in consultation with your manager, or as a manager with your employee. Start small and make it concrete: agree what you are going to try out and when you will look back together at whether it works.
Job crafting is interesting for employers and employees alike. As a manager, you can encourage it by talking about it openly and giving room to experiment. Employees who make their work fit better with who they are become more engaged. And that is good for everyone. Also read why work engagement is good for business.
Curious how engaged your team is now and where the energy is leaking away? You can measure it with the Employee Engagement Survey.
