Psychological and relational conditions for job crafting to occur.

Abstract

This study aimed to provide a wider understanding of the determinants of job crafting by jointly considering employee well- and ill-being (work engagement and exhaustion) and socio-environmental factors (supervisor and colleague support) as possible levers to promote job crafting. A secondary goal of this research was to simultaneously explore the multidimensionality of work engagement and the potentially differentiated associations between the different facets of work engagement and job crafting behaviors. Questionnaire surveys were collected among 533 workers from various organizations located in France. Results from preliminary analyses showed the superiority of a Bifactor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (B-ESEM) representation of work engagement when compared to alternative representations of ratings of this multidimensional construct. Specifically, employees' ratings of work engagement simultaneously reflected a global work engagement construct, which co-existed with specific vigor, dedication, and absorption components. Results from a predictive model indicated that the different facets of work engagement held differentiated relations with job crafting behaviors, while exhaustion did not significantly relate to any job crafting behaviors. Colleague and supervisor support also held differentiated relations with the demands-related job crafting behaviors, while both forms of support were associated with employees' seeking more job resources. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.