It Is Better for Younger Workers: The Gain Cycle between Job Crafting and Work Engagement

Abstract

Job Crafting has been proposed as a new perspective, consisting in a bottom-up strategy to achieve person–job fit by emphasizing employees’ active participation and spontaneous change in job design, which is specifically adequate for older workers. Despite this fact, the cyclical influence between Work Engagement and Job Crafting over time has been less researched. We postulated that a gain cycle could be observed in the relationships between Job Crafting and its outcomes. Hence, we tested a longitudinal moderated mediation model in which Work Engagement increases over time through an increment in Job Crafting behaviors (Hypothesis 1), while this process is moderated by workers’ age (Hypothesis 2). The present study follows a three-wave design where participants (N = 126) responded to online surveys at three measurement waves, three months apart. At Time 1 and Time 3, we assessed Work Engagement, Job Crafting behavior, and demographic variables, while at Time 2 we only assessed Job Crafting. Our findings partially differ from what was expected. The findings supported that the relationship between Work Engagement at Time 1 and changes in Job Crafting behavior across time was negative and non-significant, failing to provide support for Hypothesis 1. Related to Hypothesis 2, our results are mixed. Although the interaction between changes in Job Crafting and workers’ age did not demonstrate a statistical influence on Work Engagement at Time 3, our findings suggested that the direct influence was complemented by a negative indirect effect through the longitudinal increase of Job Crafting, which mainly affects aged workers. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

The impact of transformational leadership on work engagement: The mediating role of job crafting

“…The role of job crafting and knowledge sharing [28] . Job crafting has been proposed as a new point of view, consisting of a bottom-up approach to achieving person-job fit that places a focus on employee engagement and unplanned change in job design, which is seen as a positive indicator of proactivity [29] . Job crafting was initially thought of as the physical and mental adjustments people make to the relational or task barriers to their jobs [30] .…”

“…Based on job demands resources model, the dimensions of job crafting are as follows: 1) Expanding structural job resources (i.e., modifying job autonomy or variety); 2) expanding social job resources (i.e., boosting advice or support from colleagues); 3) expanding challenging job demands (i.e., enhancing for increasing demands that demonstrate difficult goals and professional development); and 4) reducing hindering job demands (i.e., deliver fewer task demands if a worker feels overburdened) [29] .…”

İş biçimlendirme ve işe adanmışlık: Kişi-iş uyumunun düzenleyici rolü

“…Aynı zamanda işe adanmışlık, çalışırken yüksek düzeyde enerji ve zihinsel dayanıklılık, kişinin işine çaba harcama isteği ve zorluklar karşısında sebat etme davranışı olarak da ifade edilmektedir. Çalışanların işlerine güçlü bir şekilde dahil olarak coşku, ilham, gurur ve mücadele duygularına sahip olması işe adanmışlığın önemli göstergeleri arasındadır (Topa ve Aranda-Carmena, 2022). Çalışırken mutlu olmayı ve kuvvetli bir konsantrasyonu öngören işe adanmışlık davranışı, çalışanlar için zamanın çok hızlı geçmesini ve işten ayrılmak istememeleri sonuçlarını doğurmaktadır.…”

The Influence Mechanism of Owners’ Safety Management Behavior on Construction Workers’ Safety Citizenship Behavior

“…Existing studies have confirmed that some factors, such as work engagement and power distance, play a mediating or moderating role in the owner’s influence on construction workers’ behaviors [ 27 , 28 ]. In construction safety management, workers’ involvement at work and the power distance between them and the owner are considered to be crucial factors affecting safety performance [ 29 , 30 ]. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether these factors play a mediating or moderating role in the relationship between owners’ safety management behaviors and construction workers’ SCB.…”