By Tony
Deblauwe
In a March
2010 BusinessWeek article on job re-shaping, Amy Wrzesniewski at the Yale
School of Management defined Job Crafting as a “naturally occurring phenomenon
in which employees treat their jobs as a collection of tasks that can be molded
and reorganized to fit their individual strengths, passions, and motives
better.” Wrzesniewski and others have studied this concept for years and now
may be the best time for more employers to get on board.
Given the
low
engagement numbers reported recently, as well as concerns over retention as
more jobs open up, exploring job crafting may be a great move by employers to reinvigorate
how key employees view their job and further differentiate and leverage their
skills.
At the
heart to job crafting likes the notion that the employer knows best what they
can do and how their competencies match business and personal needs. Within the
right context and guidance of business needs, managers can provide some freedom
in allowing job enrichment not just job enlargement to occur. This can yield
better performance while motivating employees to explore work options when pure
promotions may not be available due to budget or timing reasons.
Are you
ready for job crafting? Below are more resources to help you explore this
concept further:
Mind Tools
information on Job Crafting
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_36.htm
Job
Crafting Exercise -
http://www.bus.umich.edu/Positive/CPOS/Teaching/job-crafting.html
Overcoming
Barriers to Job Crafting
http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/janedut/Job_Crafting_files/JobCrafting.pdf
