LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine): As an employee, you can handle your own job and make it better for yourself. That is the concept of job crafting. A trend in the business world and also unavoidable. “If we all have to work longer, we would do better in a job that motivates us and gives us energy,” says Els Vanbelle, well-being consultant at Attentia and specialist in the matter. A lot has been said about job crafting, but you didn’t know these things yet.
1. It can be done in many ways
You can shape your own job in various ways. “Jobs have many more dimensions than we think”, says Els Vanbelle, who co-wrote the book Human organisations: 24 evolutions under the microscope, of which job crafting is one of the evolutions. Vanbelle gives the example of a flight attendant at SouthWest Airlines who quickly brought his safety regulations to all passengers. “An original interpretation of his job, and also job crafting.”
“I often talk about the seven Ws: who, what, where, when, why, with what – what refers to the means – and manner, what relates to the methodology,” says Vanbelle. Many people think about job crafting, for example, about their tasks (what) and the homework (where and when). But it goes further. “Often it’s the little things.”
2. (Almost) everyone does job crafting
Since it has such a broad interpretation, it is important for many jobs. “I regularly give lectures on the subject and often get the comment: ‘Oh, but I’ve already done that myself’”, suggests Vanbelle. “The context of work is also changing. The current working population is characterised in many ways by increasing diversity. Employees’ capabilities are increasingly being called upon to respond to growing complexity. Job crafting can help to better align your job with your personal needs, preferences and interests in this ever-changing society.”
3. There are pitfalls
Job crafting takes energy. “If your energy level is very low or if you run into a burnout, it is more difficult to realise such a change for yourself in your job”, Vanbelle knows. Although an employee takes the initiative in job crafting to adapt his job, she also believes that external preconditions are necessary for job crafting to be a success.
4. Control remains necessary
Job crafting was (and is) a big hype in the business world. All too often the pendulum has swung completely the other way. “The focus shifted entirely to self-management, as if there was no longer any need for management within an organisation,” she says. “Job Crafting is rather supplementary. It’s about fine-tuning. Employees in an organisation need a direction and framework within which they can make adjustments for their own job.”
