Job Crafting your way to work satisfaction

There are steps you can take to improve things at work

Meet Jules, a middle manager in a mid-sized business with an average turnover. Jules isn’t unhappy with her workplace, in fact, she likes the family feel of the small office. Her colleagues are friendly, her boss is understanding. And these things matter to her.

Yet, she feels trapped in the mediocrity of it all. “ You should aim for a bigger corporate,” her husband often reminds her. Jules knows she has to do something to escape the boredom that is consuming her at work every day. She doesn’t feel her skills are being put to the best use in her current role. But the thought of facing an interview, adjusting to a new work environment, a new boss and work colleagues are daunting. She hates big changes.

If you can relate to Jules’ predicament in some way, there is good news for you and for anyone else in the same boat. Let’s look at the tried and tested trick of Job Crafting which, if implemented well can give Jules the job satisfaction she so badly needs.

What is Job Crafting

The concept of Job Crafting is the brainchild of Amy Wrzesniewski from Yale, Jane Dutton from the University of Michigan, and Justin Berg from Stanford. Job Crafting is …”what employees do to redesign their own jobs that foster engagement at work, job satisfaction, resilience, and thriving.” Berg, Wrzsniewski, & Dutton, 2010.

In simple terms, job crafting calls for the worker to make changes to his/her work conditions in order to feel more productive and satisfied. And we all do it to some degree without realising it. Making changes to where you sit at work, which computer you use, when you take your lunch break or even go on your annual leave are all examples of tailored work conditions for you, leading to greater productivity and benefits for your employer in the long run. However, the art of job crafting can be used in a deeper and more impactful way when one knows how to.

The steps that lead to purposeful Job Crafting

Be very clear in your own mind about WHAT changes you want and WHY This is also known as changing the ’task content’. Align the changes to your own skills and productivity. Will the change utilise a skill you have in a more productive way?

For example, Jules from our story loves familiar situations and is good at maintaining relationships. She may choose to work closely with a small group of new trainees for six months or more at a time rather than managing a much larger team of both new and experienced staff.

Making meaningful changes in your job will lead to building better relationships and also enable you to view the work you do in a new light. Our Jules can step into more of a nurturing mentor and coach role to a handful of newbies rather than being a middle manager to a larger amorphous group.

Ensure that crafting the changes will be beneficial to your workplace Carefully assess how the proposed changes will impact on your wider work environment. Think about the clients, your colleagues, your manager, and the organization as a whole. The change needs to fit in with the work ethos of the company and should not mean extra work for anyone else.

It should also, ideally, lead to a greater benefit for the company that wasn’t there before. If Jules working with the newbies reduces the turnover rate and creates a confident bunch of interns, Jules has benefitted her company in more ways than one through her job crafting. This is a win-win situation.

Take determined and specific action to put the job crafting in place You have taken the first two steps and know for sure that the changes you are proposing will benefit both you and your company. Now, is the time to act.

Talk to your immediate supervisor or manager and carefully explain your well thought out plan. Show initiative and offer to lead the change if possible. You will be appreciated for your solution focussed attitude and will be viewed in a new light for valuing your job and offering viable alternatives.

Then go ahead and put the changes in place. Congratulations! You have just successfully crafted your job for a happier, more productive you.

Monitor the changes and make adjustments as needed. As with any new venture, careful monitoring of the situation is imperative in the initial days. Introspect deeply to see if the changes are actually bringing about greater job satisfaction for you.

Are you feeling more productive at work? Do you get to use your skills better? Are your co-workers happy about the changes? Ask for feedback and listen with an open mind. Make little or big tweaks. Remain proactive and be ready to go back to the drawing board if need be. But above all, believe in yourself and your job crafting powers.

What not to expect from any Job Crafting attempt Lesser workload or more remuneration: If either of these happens, it will be an accidental by-product and not the obvious outcome of job crafting. Job crafting will increase your job satisfaction not necessarily reduce your work.

Changes to a toxic work environment: It may give you reprieve from an annoying colleague or two but will not bring about a bigger change in the whole organisation. If your workplace is toxic, just leave.

An extra advantage over your co-workers: The purpose of job crafting is for you to rediscover your mojo at work, to avoid lost opportunity costs and to benefit your organisation. It is not designed to give you any extra benefits.

It is a well-known truth about us humans that in the long run, we value intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction over any financial gains.

“Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.”Confucius

And therein lies the power and scope of Job Crafting.