Antecedent and consequences of job crafting: an organizational level approach

Purpose This study aims to investigate the conditions required for encouraging employees to engage in job crafting and examine the consequences of job crafting behavior. Job crafting is employees’ proactive behaviors at work associated with modifying tasks, managing social relations and changing job cognition. Design/methodology/approach A paper-and-pencil onsite survey was conducted by targeting frontline employees working in five-star hotels located in Seoul, South Korea. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used. Findings Perceived organizational support triggers employees’ job crafting. Task crafting leads to relational and cognitive crafting. Relational and cognitive crafting increases employees’ fit with the organization, whereas task crafting does not. Employees’ fit with the organization is positively associated with job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications Employees’ job crafting has positive consequences for a company by enhancing employees’ fit with the organization, resulting in increased job satisfaction. Thus, organizations need to show how much the organization cares about employees’ values, so that employees can initiate job crafting by utilizing organizational support. However, generalizing the results should be done cautiously. Originality/value This study focuses on the effect of an organizational-level predictor, whereas previous job crafting literature has focused mainly on an individual level or on task-related factors. It also empirically tests the causal relationships among the three facets of job crafting and provides their distinctive influences on person-organization fit that ultimately leads to job satisfaction.