Using two intervention studies, this article examines the effectiveness of a newly developed electronic job crafting intervention (i.e., e‐intervention) that aims to stimulate task, relational, and cognitive crafting and offers a time‐efficient and cost‐effective alternative to traditional face‐to‐face job crafting interventions. In Study 1, we quantitatively and qualitatively investigate the effects of the job crafting e‐intervention on general levels of job crafting, while in study 2, we further test its direct relationship with task, relational, and cognitive crafting, and its indirect relationship with perceived person–job fit. In Study 1 (N = 59), multilevel analyses showed that the e‐intervention indeed increased general levels of job crafting immediately after the 3 weeks lasting e‐intervention. Moreover, by qualitatively investigating adherence to the intervention in the intervention group (n = 25), we found that mainly goal setting is important in stimulating job crafting. In Study 2 (N = 106), we further validated the effect on job crafting by confirming relationships with task crafting two weeks after the e‐intervention and found an indirect relationship with needs–supplies fit via task crafting. We conclude that the e‐intervention is a promising and accessible alternative to face‐to‐face job crafting interventions, especially for the specific form of task crafting. Practitioner points We developed an electronic job crafting intervention that makes use of online technology to create a more accessible, cheaper, and less time‐consuming alternative compared with traditional face‐to‐face job crafting interventions. We found this electronic job crafting intervention to be able to foster job crafting among employees. In particular, after completing the electronic intervention, employees were found to make more changes in their job to optimize their functioning compared with before the intervention, and compared with a control group not completing the intervention. Employees who completed the e‐intervention were especially engaged in task crafting (i.e., making changes in one’s task roles), which was also related to perceived levels of needs–supplies fit.

This two-study paper examines how employees' worknonwork boundary management fit influences their performance in and satisfaction with their family life, through the experience of time-and strain-based work-family conflict. We performed two studies with working parents (N = 160 and N = 158, respectively) using a different time lag and applied structural equation modeling techniques to analyze the data. In Study 1 (time lag: 12 months), our results show that work-nonwork boundary management fit relates to family satisfaction and performance through reduced strain-based work-family conflict. In Study 2 (time lag: 1 month), we find a mediating effect of time-based workfamily conflict in the relation between work-nonwork boundary management fit and family satisfaction and a direct effect of work-nonwork boundary management fit on family performance. work-nonwork boundary management fit seems to have a short-term effect on family outcomes (family satisfaction in particular) through timebased work-family conflict, whereas the mediating effect of strain-based conflict evolves more slowly over time.Our findings show that work-nonwork boundary management fit is to be taken into account when trying to establish

App work disrupted our traditional understanding of work as it introduced new technologies, such as algorithmic control. Based on the job characteristics theory, we put forward an important drawback of algorithmic control and a practice that might mitigate it. We test whether algorithmic control obstructs experiences of meaningful work through a lack of motivating job characteristics and the buffering role of bottom-up work design (i.e. job crafting). We conduct a daily diary study among 51 Belgian food app workers and test within-person relationships. Results show that on days that app workers experience high algorithmic control, they perceive their work as less meaningful than on days with little algorithmic control. Although daily motivating job characteristics could not explain this negative relationship, we found job crafting to enable app workers in attaining motivating job characteristics and meaningful work. Thereby we emphasize the importance of both top-down and bottom-up work design in a strive for meaningful work.

No abstract

No abstract