Written by Sally-Ann King | 21st June 2023

Job crafting is all about customising job roles to make them more meaningful to employees and aligning them with their individual needs, to help you get the best out of your people.

This could be achieved by modifying tasks they do, introducing new learning opportunities, or fostering collaboration with new colleagues. It’s not a new concept, and it’s something many employers already do – sometimes intentionally, sometimes without even realising. But with people increasingly seeking personal value and purpose at work, it feels more relevant than ever.

Here’s more about the types of job crafting and why it can support employee retention:

What is job crafting?

Traditionally there are three methods of job crafting:

Task crafting

Task crafting involves modifying and refining the daily tasks and activities assigned to employees. It entails reordering tasks, adjusting their timing and duration to better fit the employee’s needs, as well as exploring opportunities for task redistribution or delegation to those better suited. Task crafting also extends to the adaption of working patterns to optimise productivity and wellbeing.

An example could be someone who enjoys problem solving that might want to take on more data analysis or other analytical work. As an employer, you can facilitate this by identifying the training they need, and reviewing their workload to check they have capacity to take on new responsibility.

Relationships crafting

Relationships crafting (sometimes called relational crafting) involves strategically reshaping who the employee interacts with to maximise job satisfaction and enhance overall performance.

This might be allowing the employee the opportunity to observe meetings or shadow experienced team members who can impart valuable knowledge. Additionally, facilitating a mentor relationship where they can provide guidance and support in the employee’s career development can be a crucial aspect of relationship crafting.

Cognitive crafting

Cognitive crafting involves adopting a different perspective on a job, its tasks, and relationships. It encourages employees to consider the significance of their role and how it contributes to the larger organisational goals.

For instance, instead of viewing the job of an Administrator as solely fulfilling administrative duties, cognitive crafting helps them see it as an opportunity to help people and make their lives easier. People often need assistance in changing their mindset about their job, and coaching can be particularly beneficial in this aspect.

Job crafting benefits:

Reduced stress and risk of burnout

Alleviating stress and mitigating the risk of burnout are pressing concerns for many individuals, both within and outside of the workplace. Various factors affecting this could include workplace conflict, high workload, or tasks that an employee finds challenging or monotonous.

Through job crafting, managers have the opportunity to provide comprehensive support to their employees, fostering a sense of well-being, happiness, and reduced stress. This can be achieved by enabling employees to engage in activities they genuinely enjoy, whether that’s learning a skill they are passionate about or receiving one-to-one help from a mentor.

Improved employee engagement and retention

Providing employees with what they want and need is more important than ever – which includes a job that plays to their strengths according to Gallup. With this in mind, job crafting can help you to understand what really excites an employee about their work.

The idea behind job crafting is to encourage employees to have more influence on designing their role and responsibilities, ideally leading to more committed employees who are happier in their jobs.

It allows for employees to take ownership of their role, which often leads to greater satisfaction with their work. When employees feel they are respected and trusted by employers, they are more likely to work hard or go the extra mile in order to achieve wider business goals.

By adapting their role to suit them, employees might also see a clear pathway to achieve their long-term career goals. Job crafting practices can seamlessly fit into your Learning and Development strategy, which is a key driver of employee engagement. Research from GoodHabitz found 70% of UK employees said they would be happier in their current role if they had more personal development opportunities.

It is essential for managers to   set clear expectations to avoid employees from overlooking tasks or making unhelpful changes that could adversely impact the business. Additionally, it is crucial to ensure that employees do not take on an excessive workload. However, when job crafting is implemented effectively, it can yield substantial rewards for both individuals and the organisation as a whole.

To encourage job crafting you need to create opportunities for people to identify tweaks and changes that would make aspects of their work a better and more personal fit. Encourage managers to have regular conversations about the type of work people would like to do more of, and by addressing barriers in their way, they can empower individuals to find more meaning in their work.

If you have any questions about job crafting, please get in touch with our team at info@realityhr.co.uk.