HPWS and employee outcomes: exploring job crafting and leisure crafting pathways

Purpose Job crafting is widely studied, but antecedent evidence is limited. Further, leisure crafting is underexplored, and research incorporating job and leisure crafting behaviors is rare. Guided by the Conservation of Resources theory, the central focus of this study is to examine job crafting as a key mechanism through which high-performance work systems influence employee well-being and performance outcomes, while also considering leisure crafting as a cross-domain pathway. Design/methodology/approach Using time-lagged data (n = 126) from New Zealand, we tested the direct and mediating relationships among HPWS, job crafting, leisure crafting, well-being (positive affect, WHO-5 and insomnia) and performance outcomes (innovative work behaviors and organizational citizenship behaviors). We also conducted dominance analysis to compare the relative importance of job and leisure crafting across outcomes. Findings HPWS is positively related to job and leisure crafting, as well as all well-being and performance outcomes. Job crafting plays a partial mediating role, although full mediation towards citizenship behaviors. Dominance highlights strong effects from leisure crafting. Originality/value Findings demonstrate the value of dual crafting perspectives and suggest that organizations should foster job and leisure crafting to sustain employee well-being and performance.