How Job Crafting Might Rescue Your Stale Career

Like the bagel that has passed its best before date, your job is difficult to chew when it becomes stale. When the payday gives you the only dopamine spike that you would ever get from your job, you know it’s time moving on.

But before risking it all to walk away from your current employer, there are options to increase your chances of ‘finding’ your dream job. Job crafting is one of them.

What is Job Crafting?

Job crafting is a work design process initiated by individuals — to make proactive and intentional changes in their job roles to better align with their skills, interests and aspirations.

According to Dutton and Wrzesniewski, there are three ways of crafting your jobs:

1.      Task crafting: mindfully structuring the scope, sequence and the number of tasks involved in your work.

2.      Relational crafting: deliberately cultivating work relationships by setting intentions regarding whom and how you interact with in your work environment.

3.      Cognitive crafting: Shifting how you perceive the tasks at work.

Research on job crafting appeared over 20 years ago, but its significance is now more pronounced than ever due to rapidly changing job structures and escalating demands and intricacies in contemporary roles.

A Step-by-step Guide on Job Crafting

If you decide to give job crafting a go, here is a roadmap that will increase your chances of success.

Step 1: Introspection

Identify your strengths, passions and areas of interest. Reflect on what motivates you and brings you fulfilment at work.  

·         What tasks you find them most effortless?

·         What subject areas you like?

·         Do you like to work alone or with a team? 

·         What core values do you embrace?

Step 2: Define Goals

Identify what you want to achieve with your career.

·         Are there any existing roles within or outside your organization that you are attracted to? List out the elements in those roles that are attractive to you.

·         Outline the nature of job, tasks, routines, day-to-day interactions, and values you aim to bring to your career.

Step 3: Job Analysis

Examine your current role at three levels:

·         Task analysis: What tasks and responsibilities are involved? What is the sequence of completing them? What level of detail is expected in your delivery?

·         Relational analysis: Whom are you interacting with on your daily basis? How these interactions make you feel? What can you gain from these interactions?

·         Cognitive analysis: What meanings can you derive from your existing tasks?

Step 4: Job Redesign

Redesign your role at three levels:

·         Task redesign: What new tasks can you introduce into existing role? Which tasks can be delegated, combined, or separated?  Can the sequence of the tasks be rearranged? Is it possible to customize the level of detail to better match your needs and preferences?

·         Relational redesign: Whom do you want to interact with to suit your aspirations and needs? How can new relationships be cultivated?

·         Cognitive redesign: How your work tasks take on refreshed meanings if you were to look at it differently?

Step 5: Seek Support

Solicit support from your line managers and colleagues by openly communicating your job crafting goals. Connecting with like-minded peers can provide the mutual support crucial for enhancing your chances of success.

Conclusion

Ultimately, job crafting is methodical and risk-averse approach to creating a new framework for a meaningful and fulfilling career with your existing role. There is no need to take a daring plunge in search of a dream job that may or may not exist somewhere —if all your current role requires is a bit of tweaking and tinkering!