Date of Award

5-20-2018

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Leadership (MAL)

Department

Leadership

First Advisor

Velma Lashbrook

Second Advisor

Thomas Morgan

Abstract

Too many people go their entire lives in jobs that aren't quite the right fit. In fact, currently 70% of the American workforce is disengaged, a symptom of people feeling like the position or career they are in is not right for them. Some people end up switching jobs or careers multiple times throughout their life, while others may remain in a job they dislike. The focus of my research was to look at a third possible solution for unhappy workers: job crafting. By giving workers the freedom to add new tasks or alter existing ones, expand or contract their social networks, or reframe the purpose and meaning of their work, they can gain a fresh perspective on the work they do and align their strengths and interests with the objectives of their job. I explored this idea by doing a quantitative and qualitative study on the intersection of perceived level of job crafting and self-reported job satisfaction. The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between the two variables. Qualitative analysis revealed that many participants were already engaging in job crafting behaviors and agreed that being able to job craft would increase their engagement at work. Ultimately, this study was conducted to provide guidance and recommendations to leaders and management in business. Job crafting appears to be a viable solution for retaining talent and reengaging the workforce.

Identifier

SC 11.MAL.2018.Johnson.PR

Download

Share

COinS