Investigating the Role of Job Crafting Among Managers and Leaders in a Public Organization After a Change Process

Abstract

Due to increased globalization, competition, the introduction of new technologies, and an increasingly aging workforce, among other things, organizational change has become a major topic of interest. However, change processes pose great risks to the organizations as they are often the cause of high stress levels in those involved, which may ultimately lead to negative organizational outcomes. Prevention of such outcomes is therefore much desired. Job crafting, a relatively new theoretical approach in job redesign literature has recently been suggested to act as a coping strategy to change. Here, employees are thought to proactively engage in behaviors that adapts the change situation to fit more with their own preferences and needs. A clear gap in literature makes this topic a highly relevant master study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in two rounds where managers and leaders working in a Norwegian Municipality participated. This Municipality had just undergone a major change process called Mindful Leadership (Helhetlig ledelse). The preliminary interview round included 12 participants (6 males, 6 females). The main round included 5 participants (1 male, 4 females), all of whom were part of the original 12 individuals. The thesis question was ‘Is job crafting used among managers and leaders in a public organization after a change process?’, where it was investigated whether job crafting was present as a coping response to the change. Results did not support the thesis question and alternative explanations (e.g. general JD-R Model, general coping strategies, leadership, personal attributes) for the participants’ responses to the change are discussed. Limitations and future research are presented. As organizational change is unlikely to decrease in the future, it is important for both researchers, practitioners and organizations to know more about how employees may deal with it in constructive ways.