Abstract
This study uses proactive work behavior and job demands–resources (JD-R) theories to propose that employees can use two proactive behavioral strategies to improve the internal organizational environment, namely job crafting and playful work design (PWD). Whereas job crafting concerns the proactive adjustment of the job, PWD refers to the active creation of conditions at work that foster play. We hypothesize that individuals perform better on the days they seek job resources and challenges, or design their work to be playful. In addition, we propose that seeking job resources and reducing job demands are most effective when work pressure is high, and that seeking challenges and PWD are most effective when work pressure is low. A total of 77 Norwegian naval cadets completed a diary questionnaire for 30 consecutive days (total N = 2310). Results of multilevel modeling showed that daily seeking job resources, seeking challenges, and playful work design were each positively related to colleague-ratings of job performance. Reducing job demands was negatively related to performance. Furthermore, as hypothesized, seeking challenges and PWD were most effective when the work pressure was low. These findings contribute to the proactive work motivation and JD-R literatures by showing which work strategies are positively related to job performance, and under which conditions.
Highlights
Work psychology has traditionally focused on job design, outlining how employees adjust to various job characteristics in order to perform their work (e.g., Hackman & Oldham, 1976; Morgeson & Campion, 2003)
Whereas job crafting refers to the process of employees redefining and reimagining their job designs in personally meaningful ways (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001), playful work design refers to the process of employees proactively creating conditions at work that foster play without changing the job itself (Bakker et al, 2020; Scharp et al, 2019)
We decided to investigate both concepts in one study, because we propose that job crafting and playful work design are two independent forms of proactive work behavior that can facilitate job performance
Summary
Work psychology has traditionally focused on job design, outlining how employees adjust to various job characteristics in order to perform their work (e.g., Hackman & Oldham, 1976; Morgeson & Campion, 2003). We use a quantitative diary approach and follow naval cadets during 30 successive working days on a sail ship to investigate how they proactively adjust the characteristics of their job and tasks through daily job crafting and playful work design. We use proactive work behavior (Parker & Bindl, 2017) and Job Demands–Resources (JD-R; Bakker & Demerouti, 2017; Tims & Bakker, 2010) literatures as a theoretical basis for our central proposition that employees perform better on the days they show proactive behavior – i.e. when they craft their jobs and design their work to be playful
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