Supporting Research

The effects of using the Job Crafting™ Exercise have been tested in a quasi-experiment at a Fortune 500 technology company (see full study here). Participating in a Job Crafting™ Exercise workshop significantly increased employees’ happiness and effectiveness six weeks later, as rated by the employees’ peers and managers (controlling for levels of happiness and effectiveness prior to the workshop).

The concept of job crafting captures the active changes employees make to their own job designs in ways that can bring about numerous positive outcomes, including increased engagement, satisfaction, resilience, and performance. The following briefing introduces the core ideas of job crafting theory and research, and explores what it means for employees, managers, and organizations. Download What is Job Crafting and Why Does it Matter (PDF).

Also, below is a video of Amy Wrzesniewski presenting on how job crafting can help people create meaning in their work:

Additional related research includes:

Wrzesniewski & Dutton (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179-201.

Berg, Grant, & Johnson (2010). When callings are calling; Crafting work and leisure in pursuit of unanswered occupational callings. Organization Science, 21(5), 973-994.

Berg, Wrzesniewski, & Dutton (2010). Perceiving and responding to challenges in job crafting at different ranks; When proactivity requires adaptivity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(2-3), 158-186.

Berg, Dutton, & Wrzesniewski (2013). Job crafting and meaningful work. In B. J. Dik, Z. S. Byrne & M. F. Steger (Eds.), Purpose and meaning in the workplace (pp. 81-104). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Wrzesniewski, LoBuglio, Dutton, & Berg (2013). Job crafting and cultivating positive meaning and identity in work. In A. B. Bakker (Ed.), Advances in positive organizational psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 281-302). London: Emerald.

Grant, Berg, & Cable (2014). J ob titles as identity badges: How self-reflective titles can reduce emotional exhaustion. Academy of Management Journal, 57(4): 1201-1225.

Berg, Wrzesniewski, Grant, Kurkoski, & Welle (2023). Getting unstuck: The effects of growth mindsets about the self and job on happiness at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(1), 152-166.