Cognitive crafting and work engagement: A study among remote and frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

BackgroundThe outbreak of COVID-19 has led to a profound change in the organization of work in the health care sector. As frontline health care workers are essential in battling the pandemic and their work is appreciated in society, we argue that health care workers who are forced to work from home are likely to perceive their jobs as less meaningful, which in turn may negatively affect their engagement at work. Cognitive crafting, or the altering of the perceptions one has about their tasks and relationships with the aim to enhance the meaningfulness of work, may be a fruitful cognitive strategy to counter the problems remote health care workers face.PurposeThe primary purpose was to study the relationship between cognitive crafting, working from home (WFH), and work engagement.MethodologyWe collected cross-sectional survey data between May 7 and June 2, 2020, from a single hospital in the Netherlands (n = 278). The central hypothesis was tested using multiple regression analysis.ResultsThe relationship between cognitive crafting and work engagement was moderated by WFH, such that the relationship is more positive for health care workers who work from home permanently since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic than for frontline workers and workers who work partially from home.ConclusionOur findings are consistent with previous research on cognitive crafting. We conclude that cognitive crafting is an interesting cognitive strategy to stay engaged for health care workers who are mandated into WFH.Practice ImplicationsWe advise organizations to provide remote workers virtual group trainings that promote cognitive crafting and expose them to testimonies of people who are positively affected by their work. More generally, we recommend organizations to engage in effective top-down work design and foster a climate for cognitive as well as behavioral job crafting strategies.

The Mediation Chain Effect of Cognitive Crafting and Personal Resources on the Relationship between Role Ambiguity and Dentists’ Emotional Exhaustion

“…Consequently, we support the necessity for development strategies of these individual variables which buffer burnout in the case of dentists, who are frequently prone to emotional exhaustion [ 9 ]. Since these variables involve cognitive processing because cognitive crafting is considered a mental strategy [ 119 ], resilient responses are promoted by the situationally appropriate application of flexibility or rigidity in affective–cognitive systems [ 81 ]. Optimism and self-efficacy involve a cognitive dimension [ 75 , 100 ].…”

“…This adjustment can boost work motivation by altering one’s view of work in a more personally meaningful way [ 78 , 117 ]. Cognitive crafting was proved to be an interesting cognitive strategy to stay engaged for health care workers, a strategy which acts through the altering of the perceptions one has about professional tasks and relationships [ 119 ]. Since cognitive crafting does not change objective characteristics of the job but, rather, takes place inside the mind of the employee, as mental strategy, in contrast to relational and task crafting, it is considered that the aim is to enhance the meaningfulness of work [ 119 ].…”

“…Cognitive crafting was proved to be an interesting cognitive strategy to stay engaged for health care workers, a strategy which acts through the altering of the perceptions one has about professional tasks and relationships [ 119 ]. Since cognitive crafting does not change objective characteristics of the job but, rather, takes place inside the mind of the employee, as mental strategy, in contrast to relational and task crafting, it is considered that the aim is to enhance the meaningfulness of work [ 119 ]. Moreover, cognitive crafting can be considered the first step in the job crafting process because all job crafting initiatives start with cognitive evaluation of the characteristics of the job and person–job fit [ 120 ].…”

How psychological empowerment impacts task performance: The mediation role of work engagement and moderating role of age

“…Managers and practitioners may develop a specific age-based HRM system that empowers and engages employees. For example, the individually-driven work design process (i.e., job crafting) can better align the job with personal needs, goals, and skills (Wijngaards et al, 2022). Embedding strategies in people management practices that promote psychological empowerment and work engagement is a crucial source of competitive advantage based on developing individual capacities that are difficult to imitate.…”

Work engagement, emotional disorders and conflict management styles in paediatric nurse: A mediating effect model

“…In the nursing profession, work engagement is characterized by vigour, dedication and absorption (Mukaihata et al, 2022). Vigour usually refers to strong energy, effort, enthusiasm and persistence when faced with difficulties at work (Wijngaards et al, 2022). Dedication is commonly pointed out as high levels of involvement in work and a sense of significance, challenge, pride and inspiration (Zhang et al, 2021).As for work engagement, absorption is mostly characterized by being totally engrossed in the work, which makes workers feel time passes quickly (Hetzel-Riggin et al, 2019).…”