Answer these Questions

Consider for a moment a midlevel manager at a multi- So how did Fatima craft her job? She first noticed that national foods company, Fatima, who would seem to be she was spending too much of her time monitoring her at the top of her career. She's consistently making her team's performance and answering team questions, and required benchmarks and goals, she has built successful not enough time working on the creative projects that relationships with colleagues, and senior management inspire her. She then considered how to modify her relahave identified her as "high potential." But she isn't tionship with the team so that these activities incorporated happy with her work. She'd be much more interested in her passion for social media strategies, with team activities understanding how her organization can use social me- more centered around developing new marketing. She dia in marketing efforts. Ideally, she'd like to quit and also identified members of her team who might be able to find something that better suits her passions, but in the help her implement these new strategies and directed her current economic environment this may not be an op- interactions with these individuals toward her new goals. tion.Soshehasdecidedtoproactivelyreconfigurehercurrentjob.Fatimaispartofamovementtowardjob"crafting,"whichistheprocessofdeliberatelyreorganizingyourjobsothatitbetterfitsyourmotives,strengths,andpassions.Asaresult,notonlyhasherengagementinherworkin-creased,butshehasalsodevelopednewideasthatarebe-ingrecognizedandadvancedwithintheorganization.Insum,shehasfoundthatbyactivelyandcreativelyexamin-ingherwork,shehasbeenabletocrafthercurrentjob The core of job crafting is creating diagrams of day-to-day into one that is truly satisfying. activities with a coach. Then you and the coach collaboratively identify which tasks fit with your personal passions, Questions andwhichtendtodrainmotivationandsatisfaction.Nexttheclientandcoachworktogethertoimaginewaystoem-1.Whydoyouthinkmanypeopleareinjobsthatarenotsatisfying?Doorganizationshelppeoplecraftsat- phasize preferred activities and de-emphasize those that isfying and motivating jobs, and if not, why not? are less interesting. Many people engaged in job crafting 2. Think about how you might reorient yourself to your find that upon deeper consideration, they have more conown job. Are the principles of job crafting described trol over their work than they thought. 92 CHAPTER 3 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 3. Some contend that job crafting sounds good in 4. Are there any potential drawbacks to the job principle but is not necessarily available to everyone. crafting approach? How can these concerns be What types of jobs are probably not amenable to job minimized? crafting activities? Sourcs: Based on A. Wrzesniewski, J. M. Berg, and J. E. Dutton, "Turn the job You Have into the Job You Want," Hanvard Busines Review (June 2010). pp. 114-117; A. Wrzesniewski and J. E. Dutton, "Crafting a Job: Revisioning Employees as Active Crafters of Their Work," Academy of Management Reriew 26 (2010), pp. 179-201; and J. Caplan, "Hate Your Job? Here's How to Reshape It," Time (December 4, 2009), www.time.com