Filling the Holes

Abstract

Although work schedulers serve an organizational role influencing decisions about balancing conflicting stakeholder interests over schedules and staffing, scheduling has primarily been described as an objective activity or individual job characteristic. The authors use the lens of job crafting to examine how schedulers in 26 health care facilities enact their roles as they “fill holes” to schedule workers. Qualitative analysis of interview data suggests that schedulers expand their formal scope and influence to meet their interpretations of how to manage stakeholders (employers, workers, and patients). The authors analyze variations in the extent of job crafting (cognitive, physical, relational) to broaden role repertoires. They find evidence that some schedulers engage in rule-bound interpretation to avoid role expansion. They also identify four types of schedulers: enforcers, patient-focused schedulers, employee-focused schedulers, and balancers. The article adds to the job-crafting literature by showing that job crafting is conducted not only to create meaningful work but also to manage conflicting demands and to mediate among the competing labor interests of workers, clients, and employers.

The Process of Reinventing a Job: A Meta–Synthesis of Qualitative Job Crafting Research

“…A more specific form of work organization is prioritizing tasks, which refers to the prioritization of certain tasks over others to improve efficiency and task execution (Cohen, 2013;Singh & Singh, 2016). Other authors discussed innovation practices (Kossek et al, 2016) as a general crafting strategy to undertake new activities to generate greater involvement; others go further in the innovation process by introducing recognition of job-expanding ideas (i.e., an increase in existing responsibilities and activities) and recognition of new business ideas (i.e., an injection of new management philosophies and thinking) as new forms of task crafting (Mattarelli & Tagliaventi, 2015).…”

“…Similarly, asking colleagues for feedback and advice or building personal relationships with partners, purchasers, customers, or colleagues represent a means of receiving support and assurance from colleagues (Renkema et al, 2018); gaining confidence and appreciation (Grant-Vallone & Ensher, 2017;Lyons, 2008;Piekkari, 2015); setting the stage for future relationship building (Lyons, 2008); and finding new meaning at work (Singh & Singh, 2016). In a similar vein, the idea of proactively creating a network is especially important for self-employed professionals or those whose jobs are characterized by high autonomy or job insecurity (e.g., Buonocore et al, 2018;Meged, 2017) and is useful for those seeking emotional and instrumental support (Kossek, Piszczek, McAlpine, Hammer, & Burke, 2016).…”

“…Furthermore, some individuals experience a reciprocal social exchange through quid pro quo (Kossek et al, 2016), which is suggested as a type of relational crafting, in which individuals decide to dedicate part of their time to performing the activities of other colleagues and expect them to return the favor in the future. Finally, persuading others to take over tasks or coordination of projects (Murray, 2014) was mentioned as a new form of relational crafting.…”

“…Another cognitive activity is called metacognition (Bruning & Campion, 2018), which is characterized by cognitive changes and involves sensemaking, organization, and the manipulation of one's own psychological states. A specific form of metacognition may be stakeholder prioritization (Kossek et al, 2016), which refers to the prioritization of certain groups over others when making decisions. Similarly, the construction of fairness emerged as a cognitive crafting form concerning beliefs about fairness through which employees interpret and enact their roles and make decisions (Kossek et al, 2016).…”

“…A specific form of metacognition may be stakeholder prioritization (Kossek et al, 2016), which refers to the prioritization of certain groups over others when making decisions. Similarly, the construction of fairness emerged as a cognitive crafting form concerning beliefs about fairness through which employees interpret and enact their roles and make decisions (Kossek et al, 2016). Moreover, people may emphasize the positive qualities of work to find the pleasant side of the job (Piekkari, 2015;Vuori et al, 2012).…”