Why do employees craft their jobs: a qualitative analysis of job crafting motives from actor and observer perspectives
Journal of Managerial Psychology
ISSN: 0268-3946
Article publication date: 19 February 2024
Issue publication date: 11 March 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Despite its flourishing development since first proposed, job crafting literature has provided limited insights into why people craft their jobs. This study theoretically develops a two-dimensional integrative framework for the motives of job crafting, including orientation (self-oriented vs work-oriented vs other-oriented) and self-determination (autonomous vs introjected vs external) dimensions. We further investigate the specific motives of job crafting from actor and observer perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted two critical-incident recall surveys among 120 and 100 employees from varied sectors and organizations, who responded from the actor and observer perspective respectively. 395 and 299 valid open-ended responses were then collected and coded following the steps for content analysis.
Findings
Drawing from the proposed two-dimensional theoretical framework, we identified 16 specific job crafting motives from actor and observer perspectives.
Practical implications
Our findings remind managers to pay attention to employees' motives of job crafting and take appropriate managerial actions according to their varied motives.
Originality/value
By incorporating job crafting from the motivation literature and identifying diversified motives that drive employees to engage in job crafting, this qualitative study contributes to both the job crafting literature and the broader application of self-determination theory in the field of organizational behavior.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant number: 72271165], the Shanghai Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project [Grant number: 2021ZGL004], and Mentor Academic Leadership Program of Shanghai International Studies University [Grant number: 2023DSYL027]. The authors would like to thank Xu Wang and Fu Zhao for their valuable contribution in the coding process. This study was approved by the Internal Review Board of School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University. All participants provided written informed consent before taking each survey. We declare there are no conflicts of interest. Data were available upon request.
Citation
Lin, X. and Meng, L. (2024), "Why do employees craft their jobs: a qualitative analysis of job crafting motives from actor and observer perspectives", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 162-184. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-05-2023-0279
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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