Job crafting — changing your job to make it more engaging and meaningful — can take many forms. We’ve been studying job crafting for 20 years and our research among hospital cleaners, employees in a manufacturing firm, a women’s advocacy nonprofit, and tech workers identified three main forms these changes can take.
What Job Crafting Looks Like
Stories of three people who changed their jobs to find more meaning.
March 12, 2020
Summary.
Twenty years ago, the authors started studying job crafting — the act of altering your job to make it more meaningful. Since then, they’ve identified different forms this concept can take. They include: task crafting, which involves changing the type, scope, sequence, and number of tasks that make up your job; relational crafting, where you alter who you interact with in your work; and cognitive crafting, where you modify the way you interpret the tasks and/or work you’re doing. The authors share stories of three individuals that illustrate what each of these types look like and how employees were able to make their jobs more meaningful and engaging.
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HBR Learning
Career Management Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Career Management. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
What's your next career move? Learn how to set yourself up for success.