Effects of Job Crafting on Work Engagement and Performance

Job crafting is a form of proactive work behaviour that employees initiate to make changes to the physical, cognitive and social boundaries of their jobs. Job crafting theory suggests that job crafting behaviours benefit organisations by improving employees' performance and well-being. However, extant work has mainly used a cross-sectional survey methodology. The current study used a daily diary method to investigate the effects of job crafting behaviours (i.e., iilcreasing structural and social resources, increasing challenging job demands, and decreasing hindering demands) on employees' self-reported work performance and engagement. Two job characteristics-job demands and autonomy-- were examined as potential moderators of job crafting effects. The study sample consisted of70 participants (mean age= 45.12 years, 51% female) who completed between three and nine daily online surveys (M = 7 days) at the end of the work day across two work weeks. Consistent with predictions, the results revealed that two job crafting behaviours (increasing structural resources and challenging work· demands) consistently improved work outcomes, and job characteristics moderated the effects of job crafting behaviours on the outcomes. When demands were high, increasing structural resources improved engagement further than when demands were low. When autonomy was high, increasing· structural resources improved both engagement and performance further than when autonomy was low. The study confrrmed that job crafting is beneficial to employees and employers. Employees should increase resources variety, opportunities of learning and development, autonomy and challenges, and their employers should make resources and opportunities available to their employees