Don’t Like Your Current Job? Just Create a New One. Here’s How…

Huh? What are you saying? That I should just create a new job out of thin air?

Well, not quite, but close.

If you don’t like your current position, you can engage in what’s called “job crafting” to make it what you want.

Yup, you can (and many people do this without realizing it) tailor your own job to fit your needs and play to your strengths.

If you’re a leader, that might sound a little unnerving. Maybe you think freedom for people to create their own jobs sounds like the beginning of chaos or anarchy in the office.

Actually, it’s the opposite, and here’s why.

Positive organization researcher, Amy Wrzesniewski, has found that job crafting is not only happening, whether you’re aware of it or not, it also has numerous benefits for employees and organizations.

1. It allows employees to make their work more meaningful, leading to greater retention and commitment to the organization.

2. It encourages employees to be more proactive in their work.

3. People who craft their jobs perform significantly better than those who just chug along with their assigned job.

4. Job crafters are more engaged in their work and less likely to be absent.

5. Job crafters are happier; they have better mental health and wellbeing, which helps to make them more capable, confident, and creative.

That’s a fairly extensive and compelling list of benefits, right?

But what exactly does job crafting look like in practice?

→ It’s an eye doctor who brings her personal passion for self-improvement to work, so she holds goal-setting and vision board sessions for her team.

→ It’s the research director who brings his love of productivity and organization to a team by introducing and training everyone on a project management platform such as Base Camp or Slack.

Essentially job crafting is about people bringing knowledge and passion that is not part of their basic job description into the workplace and integrating it into what they do.