Drivers, Facilitators and Consequences: Exploring & Examining Job Crafting among Management Consultants

Abstract

The job crafting perspective considers the ways in which employees proactively alter their tasks, relationships and perceptions at work in order to achieve a personalized fit to their work environment. Studies confirm that job crafting results in various positive work outcomes, however, less is known about the techniques of job crafting, especially in the given research setting. This study focuses on exploring the techniques of job crafting, along with the factors that drive them and the approach adopted in crafting these techniques. Based on the content analysis of weeklong 24 daily diaries (105 entries) and 21 follow-up interviews of management consultants, as well as grounded theory analysis on a set of 18 in-depth interviews, this study identifies different techniques within each type of job crafting based on the differential focus at the structural, social and personal levels. Further, the study identifies a set of facilitators and consequences of job crafting through participant narratives. Finally, drawing from the conservation of resources and the job demand-resource theories, a research framework is derived guided by the qualitative insights for testing and validation. The research model presents job crafting as a proactive coping mechanism in reducing stress and burnout, as well as making employees more psychologically available. Results based on structural equation modeling of data from 268 management consultants indicate that the performance effect of job crafting is mediated by burnout and psychological availability. Findings also indicate that employees having higher work centrality exhibit more job crafting behaviors. The study puts forward various theoretical and practical implications.