Job crafting towards strengths and interests: The effects of a job crafting intervention on person-job fit and the role of age.

Abstract

We introduce 2 novel types of job crafting-crafting toward strengths and crafting toward interests-that aim to improve the fit between one’s job and personal strengths and interests. Based on Berg, Dutton, and Wrzesniewski (2013), we hypothesized that participating in a job crafting intervention aimed at adjusting the job to personal strengths and interests leads to higher levels of job crafting, which in turn will promote person-job fit. Moreover, we hypothesized that this indirect effect would be stronger for older workers compared with younger workers. Results of an experimental field study indicated that participating in the job crafting intervention leads to strengths crafting, but only among older workers. Strengths crafting was, in turn, positively associated with demands-abilities and needs-supplies fit. Unexpectedly, participating in the job crafting intervention did not influence job crafting toward interests and had a negative effect on crafting toward strengths among younger workers. However, our findings suggest that some types of job crafting interventions can indeed be an effective tool for increasing person-job fit of older workers.

Author

Kooij DTAM, van Woerkom M, Wilkenloh J, Dorenbosch L, Denissen JJA

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