What is Job Crafting? Meaning & Example

What is Job Crafting?

Job crafting is a deliberate and purposeful redesign of a position in order to increase one’s personal strengths, interests, and values. It is based on the employees' ability to take initiatives related to adjusting different aspects of their workplace, tasks, and relationships with others to achieve a more stimulating and gratifying work environment. It includes trying out new tasks, changing the tasks performed, or modifying the interactions with subordinates and supervisors.

Through job crafting, individuals can, consequently, improve their autonomy, mastery, and purpose in their work. It offers an opportunity for workers to personalize their jobs so that they fit in their specific skills and interests, which, in turn, leads to high job satisfaction, motivation, and general well-being. On the other hand, job crafting can lead to enhanced performance and productivity because people are more dedicated to their work and see it as a better fit with their personal objectives when this work is more aligned with their personal preferences and aims.

Example

A task which goes with job crafting is a software developer who loves solving problems and working with others but has a feeling of being isolated in her current role. As a solution to this, they start a dialogue with their manager about the possibility of participation in cross-functional projects or with the team, which shows attention to alignment and creativity. They participate in brainstorming activities and mentor junior developers, where they do not lack social interaction. Furthermore, they go out of their way to find learning opportunities to improve on areas they are not good at, like user experience design or agile project management, earning the right to take on more multifaceted tasks within their expertise. By taking these actions a developer can turn their work into something that effectively suits their interest in cooperating, solving problems, and learning continuously. Thus, this work supports job satisfaction and engagement.