Decreasing Hindering Job Demands Research Articles

A meta-analysis on promotion- and prevention-focused job crafting

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to present a meta-analytical summary of the job crafting literature. We integrate resource- and role-based job crafting conceptualizations in one job crafting model, which can theoretically account for beneficial and detrimental job crafting effects. Applying reasoning from regulatory focus theory we differentiated promotion-focused (increasing job resources and challenging job demands; expansion-oriented task, relational, and cognitive crafting) from prevention-focused (decreasing hindering job demands; contraction-oriented task and relational crafting) job crafting. We hypothesized that promotion-focused job crafting relates positively and prevention-focused job crafting relates negatively with employee health, motivation, and performance. Results of cross-sectional meta-analytical structural equation modelling showed that promotion-focused job crafting was positively related with work engagement and negatively related with burnout, while prevention-focused job crafting was negatively related with work engagement and positively related with burnout. Moreover, promotion-focused job crafting was positively and prevention-focused job crafting was negatively related with performance through work engagement and burnout. Results of longitudinal meta-analytical structural equation modelling showed that there were reciprocal, positive relationships between promotion-focused job crafting and work engagement, and between prevention-focused job crafting and burnout. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

How employees’ pro-activity translates high-commitment HRM systems into work engagement: the mediating role of job crafting

In this study, we examine whether the relationship between employees’ perceptions of human resource management (HRM) and work engagement is mediated by job crafting. Using conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose that HR practices offer job resources which employees reinvest by displaying job crafting behaviours. Since job crafting involves the pro-active redesign of job characteristics by employees, this study advances the idea that employees are pro-active in their response to HRM and translate perceived HRM practice into attitudinal outcomes through displaying pro-active behaviour. In support of this idea, our results show that the relationship between perceived HRM and work engagement is fully mediated by the job crafting type ‘increasing job resources and challenging job demands’. The job crafting type ‘decreasing hindering job demands’ turned out to be insignificantly related to both employee perceptions of HRM and work engagement.

Job crafting and work-family enrichment: the role of positive intrinsic work engagement

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the role of job crafting behaviors in predicting work-family enrichment. It is hypothesized that employees who are able to adjust their work environment proactively by increasing structural and social job resources, increasing challenging job demands and decreasing hindering job demands would be more engaged and experience work-family enrichment.Design/methodology/approachThe sample for the study consisted of 496 employees working in diverse nature of organizations in India. Structural equation modeling with the help of SPSS AMOS 20 was used for testing the study hypotheses.FindingsThe results reveal a strong relationship between job crafting and work-family enrichment experiences among employees. The study also established the role of work engagement as a mediator of the relationship between job crafting and work-family enrichment.Research limitations/implicationsThe study significantly advances the underdeveloped literature on work-family enrichment by establishing job crafting as a predictor and illuminating the underlying psychological processes in a non-western collectivist culture. The study also contributes to theory building around the construct of job crafting which is still in its infancy.Practical implicationsThe practitioners are encouraged to provide opportunities, support and freedom for job crafting to their employees for better work and home outcomes.Originality/valueThe present study is one of the pioneer attempts to examine how employees themselves can influence work-family enrichment by enhancing their work engagement using job crafting.

Job crafting profiles and work engagement: A person-centered approach

Research on job crafting has thus far focused on how distinct behaviors (i.e., seeking increase in (structural and social) job resources and challenging job demands, and decrease in hindering job demands) relate to employee well-being. However, job crafting behaviors are not necessarily mutually exclusive and can be deployed simultaneously, creating unique associations with job-related well-being, a phenomenon that has remained unexamined in job crafting research. This study extends the job crafting research by examining whether discernable profiles can be identified based on scores on four job crafting behaviors, and if so, whether such profiles differ in relation to work engagement. Study participants were Finnish rehabilitation workers (n=131) who completed day-level measures of job crafting and work engagement twice. At both measurement times, latent profile analysis yielded two job crafting profiles: 1) ‘Active job crafters’ (94%) and 2) ‘Passive job crafters’ (6%). Latent transition analysis revealed that employees maintained their profile membership over time. Moreover, ‘Active job crafters’ reported higher levels of work engagement than ‘Passive job crafters’ at both measurements. These results indicate that employees actively use multiple job crafting strategies simultaneously, and that this facilitates day-specific work engagement. The results also suggest that the strategy of decreasing hindering job demands is less detrimental to work engagement when used together with other job crafting strategies. Overall, the results demonstrate the benefits of investigating combinations of job crafting behaviors.

Validation of a Short Form of Job Crafting Scale in a Spanish Sample.

Applications of job crafting are widespread in the professional practice. In an attempt to measure this phenomenon, Tims, Bakker and Derks (2012) developed a Job Crafting Scale based on the Job Demand-Resources model (JD-R) and validated it in a Dutch sample. However, its application to other cultural contexts presented some difficulties. The present work aimed to validate a shorter version of scale by Tims et al. (2012) in a Spanish sample (n = 1,647). The data were randomly split in two independent subsamples (Sample 1: Explorative; Sample 2: Confirmative). The exploratory factor analysis showed a three-factor structure. Through a confirmatory factor analysis, the four-dimensionality structure of the original scale was replicated. In fact, the four-factor solution presented better goodness of fit indices than the alternative one-factor model, χ2(48) = 192.70, p < .01; AGFI = .94; NNFI = .93; RMR = .05; RMSEA = .06. Alpha reliabilities were acceptable for increasing structural job resources (α = .75), decreasing hindering job demands (α = .64), increasing social job resources (α = .78) and increasing challenging job demands (α = .77). Convergent validity was appropriate for three of the four dimensions, because each construct's AVE were around .50 and each construct's Composite Reliability were around .70. Decreasing hindering job demands presented more limited values (CR = .65; AVE = .40). In addition, the four job crafting dimensions presented significant correlations with job performance (range -.09 to .42) and personal growth (ranging from -.09 to .45). Finally, the squared correlations between factors were lower than the square root of AVE, which confirmed discriminant validity.

Job crafting and Work Involvement as a Mediator to Promote Head Nurses' Organizational Citizenship Behavior at Mansoura University Hospitals

Todays' human resource and management professionals have become interested in the concept of organizational citizenship behavior because they considered improving nursesOrganizational Citizenship Behavior(OCB) is a crucial factor for developing organizations.It improves efficiency and generally provides a healthy work environment. The field of occupational health has started to pay increased attention to the concept of job crafting specifically in nursing profession.Job crafting was defined as employees’ self-initiated, proactive behavior aimed at aligning their jobs with their own preferences, motives, and passions. Through job crafting, employees can optimize their work environment and work experience. This may affect both individual and organizational outcomes as wellbeing, performance, and job involvement. The aim of the present study is to determine relationships between job crafting and work involvement with head nurses' organizational citizenship behavior at Mansoura University Hospitals. A descriptive correlation design was used in carrying outthis study. All head nurses (n=122) who working in all general units at three Mansoura University Hospitals namely; Main University Hospital, Emergency Hospital, and Specialized Medical Hospital. were included in the study. Three tools were used for data collection, namely; Job Crafting Scale, Job Involvement Questionnaire, and Head Nurse' Organizational Citizenship Behavior Questionnaire. A major finding of the present study there was statistically significant correlation between head nurses job crafting and job involvement and their organizational citizenship. It was concluded that increasing social job resources job crafting play a significant role in the organizational citizenship behavior of head nurses Furthermore, the hypothesis that head nurses' work involvement has a mediating effect on organizational citizenship behavior. It is recommended that to promote head nurses'organizational citizenship, it is necessary to acknowledge and consider organizational-level job demands and job resources such as increasing social job resources job crafting and decreasing hindering job demands. As well as additional research should be conducted to test to what extent the study results can be generalized.

The Spanish version of the Job Crafting Scale.

A literature review reveals that there is no measure of job crafting available in Spanish. This paper presents the translation, adaptation and validation of a scale to measure job crafting behaviors (i.e. the Spanish Job Crafting Scale &ndash; SJCS; Tims, Bakker, &amp; Derks, 2012). The scale was applied to a sample of 896 employees in Spain (52.26% women and 47.4% men). We tested the reliability and factorial validity of the 21-item instrument. After confirmatory factor analysis (CFI=.858, TLI= .838, IFI= .860, RMSEA= .067), the results show a structure consisting of four factors: Increasing structural job resources; Decreasing hindering job demands; Increasing social job resources; Increasing challenging job demands. These four factors demonstrate adequate reliability and evidence of validity with others scales that refer to Engagement at Work and Proactivity. The questionnaire may be a useful tool for the assessment of job crafting and for future research in Spanish speaking countries.

Job crafting: A meta-analysis of relationships with individual differences, job characteristics, and work outcomes

Job crafting is a form of proactive work behavior that involves employees actively changing the (perceived) characteristics of their jobs, including behaviors aimed at increasing challenging and decreasing hindering job demands, as well as those directed at increasing structural and social job resources (Tims & Bakker, 2010). Research on job crafting has rapidly increased over the past decade, but findings have thus far not been quantitatively synthesized. We first integrate job crafting as conceptualized by Tims and Bakker (2010) with a more general theoretical model of proactive work behavior. Then, we present a meta-analysis (K=122 independent samples representing N=35,670 workers) of relationships between job crafting behaviors and their various antecedents and work outcomes derived from our model. We consider both overall and dimension-level job crafting relationships. Notably, overall job crafting was found to be strongly associated with proactive personality (rc=0.543), promotion regulatory focus (rc=0.509), and work engagement (rc=0.450). Differential results emerged when considering specific job crafting dimensions. For example, increasing challenging job demands was associated with other-rated work performance (rc=0.422), whereas decreasing hindering job demands was related to turnover intentions (rc=0.235). Beyond these zero-order relationships, a meta-analytic confirmatory factor analysis provides support for the operationalization of overall job crafting based upon the proposed dimensions, with the exception of decreasing hindering demands. Additionally, results of meta-analytic relative weights analyses speak to the unique relationships of all four job crafting dimensions with different work outcomes.

Antecedents of daily team job crafting

ABSTRACTThis study investigated potential antecedents of team job crafting defined as the extent to which team members engage together in increasing (social and structural) job resources and challenges, and decreasing hindering job demands. Mindful of the teamwork literature, we hypothesized that individual employee factors (self-efficacy for teamwork, daily affect), team features (team cohesion, climate) and the organizational context of teams (engaging leadership and organizational resources for teamwork) relate positively to daily team job crafting behaviour. Data were collected among 46 multi-professional rehabilitation teams whose members completed two daily surveys after their weekly meetings. Multilevel regression analyses showed that self-efficacy for teamwork and team members’ positive affect were positively associated with team job crafting behaviour at the individual (within-team) level. In addition, a team climate characterized by a clear vision of the teams’ targets, supportiveness and innovation and connecting leadership were positively related to daily team job crafting at both the within- and between-team levels of the data. Overall, the study offers novel insights into the antecedents of teams’ daily job crafting behaviours. For practice, the results suggest that actions and interventions conducive to positive team processes offer the most promising route to enhancing team job crafting behaviour.

Leader–member exchange fosters work engagement: The mediating role of job crafting

Orientation: The right balance between job demands and job resources are essential for employees to bring energy and enthusiasm to work. Employees who experience high-quality relationships with their supervisors may actively craft their job demands and job resources and feel more engaged.Research purpose: The current study examined the associations between leader–member exchange (LMX), job crafting and work engagement. Motivation: This study attempts to gain more insight in the associations between LMX, job crafting and work engagement. It was hypothesised that high-quality relationships with supervisors fosters work engagement because it stimulates employees to craft their jobs by increasing social and structural job resources and challenging job demands and by decreasing hindering job demands.Research approach, design and methodology: Participants (N = 402) working for a leading mail and parcels company in the Netherlands completed questionnaires measuring LMX, work engagement and job crafting. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the hypotheses.Main findings: Increasing social job resources (β = 0.01, SE = 0.00, p &lt; 0.001) and increasing challenging job demands (β = 0.08, SE = 0.04, p &lt; 0.05) were significant mediators in the association between LMX and work engagement. Increasing structural job resources (β = 0.00, SE = 0.00, p = 0.92) and decreasing hindering job demands (β = -0.00, SE 0.00, p = 0.09) were not significant mediators.Practical and managerial implications: Supervisors who are capable of building high-quality relationships with their employees based on trust, respect and loyalty will foster a positive, fulfilling work-related state of mind among employees because they are more willing to proactively craft a challenging and resourceful work environment.Contribution or value-add: The findings of this study showed the importance of high-quality relationships with supervisors and were unique in examining the association between LMX and job crafting.

Job crafting and motivation to continue working beyond retirement age

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how promotion- and prevention-focussed job crafting impacts the motivation of older employees to continue working beyond retirement age. The authors hypothesized that promotion-focussed job crafting (i.e. increasing social and structural job resources, and challenging job demands) relates positively and prevention-focussed job crafting (i.e. decreasing hindering job demands) relates negatively with motivation to continue working after reaching the official retirement age, and that these relationships are sequential mediated by work sense of coherence and burnout. Design/methodology/approach Data from 229 older employees (mean age=55.77) were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings Promotion-focussed job crafting was positively and prevention-focussed job crafting was negatively related with employees’ work sense of coherence, which was predictive of employees’ burnout, which in turn was predictive of motivation to continue working beyond retirement age. Research limitations/implications Despite the cross-sectional study design, the results unfold how promotion- and prevention-focussed job crafting are related with motivation to continue working beyond retirement age through work sense of coherence and burnout. Practical implications Given today’s aging and shrinking workforce, older employees working beyond their official retirement age are a necessity for organizations’ functional capability. The results suggest that organizations should encourage employees’ promotion-focussed job crafting and limit prevention-focussed job crafting. Promotion-focussed job crafting facilitates employees’ work sense of coherence, which keeps them healthy and motivates older employees to continue working beyond retirement age. Originality/value This study adds to the literatures on job crafting and motivation to continue working beyond retirement age and explicates intervening processes in this relationship.

Job crafting and its impact on work engagement and job satisfaction in mining and manufacturing

The purpose of this study was to investigate job crafting and its relationship with work engagement and job satisfaction within the South African context. This research is important as job crafting has been shown to have a positive influence on employee motivation. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect primary data from organisations in the mining and manufacturing industries of South Africa (N = 470). The results of multi-group structural equation modelling showed that the original four-factor structure of the job crafting scale was supported by the data, but that a three-factor structure was necessary due to a discriminant validity concern regarding two job crafting dimensions. Regression results revealed that increasing structural job resources with challenging job demands, and increasing social job resources were significant predictors of work engagement in both groups. Contrary to expectations decreasing hindering job demands was a negative predictor of job satisfaction in the mining group. Furthermore, increasing social job resources was also a significant predictor of job satisfaction in both groups. This study indicates the importance of job crafting for work engagement and job satisfaction in organisations.

Validation of the Japanese version of the job crafting scale.

The aim of this study was to validate the Japanese version of the job crafting scale (JCS-J). JCS measures four independent job crafting dimensions, namely increasing structural job resources, decreasing hindering job demands, increasing social job resources, and increasing challenging job demands. The translated and back-translated JCS-J questionnaires were administered online to 972 employees of a Japanese manufacturing company. The data were then divided into independent explorative and confirmative samples. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to evaluate the factorial validity of JCS-J. The relationship with potential consequences of job crafting (e.g., job demands, job resources, and psychological well-being) was investigated to evaluate construct validity. Internal consistency was examined to evaluate the reliability of the four JCSs. An exploratory factor analysis extracted a five-factor solution. Decreasing hindering job demands was further split into two separate dimensions supporting a five- rather than four-factor structure. A series of confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the modified five-factor model that allows covariance between items fits the data best. Construct validity was generally supported by the expected correlations of each job crafting dimension with each corresponding job resource (+), job demand (+), and psychological well-being (+). Cronbach's α coefficient was sufficient for each of the four dimensions of job crafting (α ranged between 0.76 and 0.90). This study confirmed that JCS-J is an adequate measure of job crafting that can be used in the Japanese context.

Promotion- and Prevention-Focused Job Crafting: A Theoretical Extension and Meta- Analytical Test

We refine and extend the job demands-resources job crafting model with reasoning from regulatory focus theory to account for theoretical and empirical inconsistencies in relationships between the crafting of challenging and hindering job demands with employee motivation, health, and work outcomes. We tested our refined and extended job demands-resources job crafting model using meta- analytic structural equation modeling. First, we differentiated promotion-focused job crafting (i.e., job crafting through increasing job resources and challenging job demands) from prevention-focused job crafting (i.e., job crafting through decreasing hindering job demands). Second, we showed that promotion-focused job crafting consistently facilitates employee motivation, health, and work outcomes, whereas prevention-focused job crafting hampers employee motivation, health, and work outcomes. Implications for future research and practices are discussed.

Job crafting and its impact on work engagement and job satisfaction in mining and manufacturing

The purpose of this study was to investigate job crafting and its relationship with work engagement and job satisfaction within the South African context. This research is important as job crafting has been shown to have a positive influence on employee motivation. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect primary data from organisations in the mining and manufacturing industries of South Africa (N = 470). The results of multi-group structural equation modelling showed that the original four-factor structure of the job crafting scale was supported by the data, but that a three-factor structure was necessary due to a discriminant validity concern regarding two job crafting dimensions. Regression results revealed that increasing structural job resources with challenging job demands, and increasing social job resources were significant predictors of work engagement in both groups. Contrary to expectations decreasing hindering job demands was a negative predictor of job satisfaction in the mining group. Furthermore, increasing social job resources was also a significant predictor of job satisfaction in both groups. This study indicates the importance of job crafting for work engagement and job satisfaction in organisations.

Examining Job Crafting from an Interpersonal Perspective: Is Employee Job Crafting Related to the Well‐Being of Colleagues?

Individuals engage in job crafting to create a better fit between their job and their preferences, skills, and abilities. However, the individual focus may overlook the impact of job crafting on the job context or well‐being of colleagues. Therefore, an important question that is addressed in this study is whether the crafting of one person is related to the job characteristics and well‐being of a colleague. This study explores the potential negative effects of a seemingly positive strategy for the individual on a colleague. Namely, we predict that when employees decrease their hindering job demands, their colleagues will be more likely to report a higher workload and more conflict. In turn, we hypothesise that colleague reports of workload and conflict are related to colleague burnout. Data were collected among 103 dyads and analyzed with the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model. The results largely supported the hypothesised relationships: Decreasing hindering job demands was positively related to colleague workload and conflict, which, in turn, related positively to colleague burnout. These findings suggest that proactively decreasing hindering job demands not only relates to personal job experiences, but also to colleague job characteristics and well‐being.

The development and validation of a job crafting measure for use with blue-collar workers

Job crafting describes a set of proactive behaviours in which employees may engage to shape their work in order to minimize hindering job demands and maximize resources and challenging demands. Such behaviours may be particularly important among blue-collar workers whose jobs are characterized by poor working conditions and low well-being. We present the development and adaptation of a job crafting measure that may be used among blue-collar workers, based on an existing scale by Tims, Bakker, and Derks (2012) that was not specifically developed for blue-collar workers. We test the validity and reliability of the measure in a longitudinal study based on multiple source information from mail delivery workers in Denmark (N=362 at Time 1; N=408 at Time 2). Results indicate the presence of five job crafting dimensions: increasing challenging demands, decreasing social job demands, increasing social job resources, increasing quantitative demands and decreasing hindering job demands. These can be reliably measured with 15 items. The measure shows acceptable discriminant and criterion validity, and test-retest reliability. The findings extend the application of the original questionnaire. They also add to knowledge of the job crafting behaviours in which blue-collar workers engage and link them to well-being outcomes.

Development and validation of the job crafting scale

We developed and validated a scale to measure job crafting behavior in three separate studies conducted in The Netherlands (total N = 1181). Job crafting is defined as the self-initiated changes that employees make in their own job demands and job resources to attain and/or optimize their personal (work) goals. In Study 1 and 2 the Dutch job crafting scale (JCS) was developed and tested for its factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity. The criterion validity of the JCS was examined in Study 3. The results indicated that there are four independent job crafting dimensions, namely increasing social job resources, increasing structural job resources, increasing challenging job demands, and decreasing hindering job demands. These dimensions could be reliably measured with 21 items. The JCS shows convergent validity when correlated with the active constructs proactive personality (+), personal initiative (+), and the inactive construct cynicism (−). In addition, results indicated that self-reports of job crafting correlated positively with colleague-ratings of work engagement, employability, and performance — thus supporting the criterion validity of the JCS. Finally, self-rated job crafting behaviors correlated positively with peer-rated job crafting behaviors.