Imagining positive workplaces: extrapolating relationships between job crafting, mental toughness and authentic happiness in millennial employees

Abstract

Purpose Millennial managers are required to adopt to contemporary management practices and continually evolve to manage the workforce. To help them evolve and create positive workplaces, this study aims to extrapolate the associations between job crafting, mental toughness and authentic happiness (AH) among millennials and derive implications. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from 496 millennial employees at Time-1 (March 2018), Time-2 (November 2018) and Time-3 (August 2019) from multiple sectors. A combined structural equation modelling and artificial neural networks approach was implied to test the strength of the proposed associations. Findings With reference to the relationships thus obtained between job crafting, mental toughness and AH, the results specifically conclude that challenging job demand is significant predictor of AH. Mental toughness partially mediates the relationship between challenging job demands and AH, indicating that mental toughness is an essential component for employee happiness. Practical implications Millennial managers and policymakers must challenge the skills of employees for obtaining optimal performance. When employees perceive adequate workload and have a set deadline for the completion of tasks assigned to them, they carry out the tasks with greater efficacy, in turn, leading them to find greater meaning (focusing on essential tasks), purpose and engagement in life (enthusiastic, interested, engaged). Overall, when millennial managers focus on such associations, they can help enhance productivity and constitute happier workplaces. Originality/value This study explores constructs such as mental toughness to support the job crafting and happiness relationship. A hybrid statistical analysis strengthens the accuracy of the proposed model and enhances its empirical and implied value.

The effects of servant leadership and despotic leadership on employees’ happiness at work (HAW): the role of job crafting

“…HAW, that is a broad-based attitudinal concept to measure the employees' well-being . Moreover, in line with COR theory, employees' job crafting activities enable them to acquire and maintain a pool of resources (Luu, 2020), thereby inducing more job meaningfulness, satisfaction, and thriving experiences (Khan et al, 2022) that leads to their enhanced well-being (Ruparel et al, 2022). Thus, this leads to propose the following hypothesis:…”

Digital humanism and artificial intelligence: the role of emotions beyond the human–machine interaction in Society 5.0

“…This study contributes theoretically to the understanding of human–machine interactions by investigating the antecedents of the willingness to use AI devices. Although previous works have addressed the issue of the acceptance of AI (Majchrzak et al , 2000; Lin et al , 2020; Roy et al , 2020; Longo et al , 2020), research on human emotions, both positive and negative, is fairly nascent (Gursoy et al , 2019; Ruparel et al , 2022). Additionally, existing literature on acceptance by Millennials has used technology acceptance frameworks (Ruparel et al , 2022; Mohamad et al , 2021), that were developed in a context where technology was not smart as in Industry 5.0 (Vitezić and Perić, 2021).…”

“…Although previous works have addressed the issue of the acceptance of AI (Majchrzak et al , 2000; Lin et al , 2020; Roy et al , 2020; Longo et al , 2020), research on human emotions, both positive and negative, is fairly nascent (Gursoy et al , 2019; Ruparel et al , 2022). Additionally, existing literature on acceptance by Millennials has used technology acceptance frameworks (Ruparel et al , 2022; Mohamad et al , 2021), that were developed in a context where technology was not smart as in Industry 5.0 (Vitezić and Perić, 2021). AI has become an increasingly important tool for knowledge sharing within organizations.…”