The double‐edged sword of job crafting: The effects of job crafting on changes in job demands and employee well‐being

Abstract

Job crafting is theorized to operate via changes that employees make to their work designs, yet this critical mechanism has remained scarcely tested. This study examined whether job crafting facilitates changes in two types of challenge demands, namely workload and job complexity, and hindrance demands and whether these changes explain why job crafting may have both positive and negative implications for employee well-being. We utilized a two-wave sample of 2,453 employees to examine the relationships between job crafting and within-person changes in job demands, work engagement, and burnout. The findings showed that approach type of job crafting was related to increases in work engagement via increased job complexity. However, approach crafting was also associated with increases in burnout via increased workload. Avoidance type of job crafting, in turn, was related to increases in burnout and decreases in work engagement via decreased job complexity. The findings imply that job crafting may both promote and mitigate employee well-being depending on how it changes specific features of work design and that also approach crafting may deteriorate well-being. We discuss the practical implications of different types of job crafting on work design and employee well-being. K E Y W O R D Sjob design, research methods and design, structural equation modeling | INTRODUCTIONOrganizational leaders can use different strategies to improve employee motivation and well-being, but these strategies may not work in the same way for all employees with different needs and preferences (Boon & Kalshoven, 2014;Yan, Peng, & Francesco, 2011).Designing motivating and healthy jobs may not come naturally even to trained professionals (Parker, Andrei, & Van den Broeck, 2019), and top-down work design approaches do not always increase employee motivation and well-being as intended (Axtell & Parker, 2003;Campion & McClelland, 1993;Johns, 2010). Job crafting has thus gained momentum in management literature, as it emphasizes the changes employees themselves make to their work tasks, activities, responsibilities, and relationships (Bruning & Campion, 2018;Wong, Škerlavaj, & Černe, 2017;Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). This is suggested to increase the effectiveness of work re-design, as employees are more likely to accept work-related changes that they themselves implement (Campion, Mumford, Morgeson, & Nahrgang, 2005).Two types of job crafting strategies can be distinguished: Approach crafting comprises active efforts toward improvementfocused goals, such as seeking opportunities to learn and challenge oneself, whereas avoidance crafting focuses on diminishing parts of one's work that are stressful, such as evading straining interactions or making mentally demanding tasks easier to perform (Bipp & Demerouti, 2015;Bruning & Campion, 2018). Approach crafting is thus suggested to increase challenging job demands (e.g., workload and job complexity) that involve possibilities for personal development and achievement, whereas avoidance crafting aims to d...

The Double-Edged Sword Effect of Relational Crafting on Job Well-Being

“…The positive side of proactive behavior has been frequently discussed in prior literature, as shown in a meta-analysis by Thomas et al (2011) ; nevertheless, most of the current studies did not capture the potential negative effect of proactive behavior. Our research showed that subordinates’ relational crafting can also negatively influence their job well-being through increased work load, which fills the gap and echoes the suggestion of Harju et al (2021) to test the double-edged sword effect of job crafting.…”

Passionate and engaged? Passion for inventing and work engagement in different knowledge work contexts

“…Hauff et al argue that employee well-being is a key mechanism for organizational effectiveness. From the employee perspective, increasing different types of job demands may have positive effects on well-being, manifesting itself as work engagement (Harju et al , 2021). Also Schaufeli et al (2008) have previously theorized that work engagement represents one form of work-related well-being.…”

Examining Job Complexity on Job Crafting Within Conservation of Resources Theory: A Dual-Path Mediation Model

“…Employees are inclined to choose tasks at which they will perform well and that are not too difficult (Elliot and Thrash, 2001). Approach crafting seeks to obtain and retain the positive aspects of work and gives employees an opportunity to demonstrate their competence (Elliott and Dweck, 1988;Harju et al, 2021). However, avoidance crafting occurs when employees try to avoid potential failure when handling certain tasks which may have them appear incompetent (Harju et al, 2021).…”

“…Approach crafting seeks to obtain and retain the positive aspects of work and gives employees an opportunity to demonstrate their competence (Elliott and Dweck, 1988;Harju et al, 2021). However, avoidance crafting occurs when employees try to avoid potential failure when handling certain tasks which may have them appear incompetent (Harju et al, 2021). Thus, employees may avoid certain aspects of complex jobs while approaching others.…”

“…Avoidance crafting represents any efforts by employees to evade challenging job demands. It constitutes a resource loss process, where employees seek to mitigate the straining effects of work to protect their resources and improve their wellbeing (Harju et al, 2021). Since approach crafting requires additional efforts (Zhang and Parker, 2019), employees may adopt the avoidance strategy to relieve stress.…”