Implications of Daily Relational Job Crafting in the Context of Task Interdependence

Abstract

Social interactions and connections are ubiquitous in organizations. Yet, our understanding of how and when employees’ efforts to adjust social interactions and connections at work (i.e., relational job crafting) are linked with relevant work outcomes (e.g., task performance) is limited. Building on proactivity and conservation of resources theory, we developed a framework that explains how individuals’ engagement in promotion-oriented vs. prevention-oriented relational job crafting increases their energetic resources, which positively influence their task performance. In our theoretical development, we further argue that implications of such bottom-up relational job crafting for task performance are contingent on the top-down relational job design (i.e., task interdependence). To test our research model, we conducted an experience sampling study (10 workdays with two daily measurement points; Nday-level = 845) with 126 full-time employees across various occupations and industries. In support of our theorizing, multilevel path modeling indicated daily promotion-oriented relational job crafting was positively associated with subsequent energy levels and task performance on the next day, but only when overall task interdependence in the job was low. In contrast, daily prevention-oriented relational job crafting was positively associated with energy levels and task performance on the next day at high levels of task interdependence in the job. Our findings suggest the relevance of considering different forms of bottom-up relational job crafting for performance-related outcomes in the context of top-down job design.