How Should Job Crafting Interventions Be Implemented to Make Their Effects Last? Protocol for a Group Concept Mapping Study

Marta Roczniewska; Emma Hedberg Rundgren; Henna Hasson; Arnold B Bakker; Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz

doi:10.3390/ijerph192113922

How Should Job Crafting Interventions Be Implemented to Make Their Effects Last? Protocol for a Group Concept Mapping Study

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 26;19(21):13922. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192113922.

Authors

Marta Roczniewska^{1

2}, Emma Hedberg Rundgren¹, Henna Hasson^{1

3}, Arnold B Bakker^{4

5}, Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Medical Mangement Centre, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management, and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
² Institute of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, 03-815 Warsaw, Poland.
³ Centre for Epidemiology and Community Medicine, 104 31 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴ Center of Excellence for Positive Organizational Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
⁵ Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa.
⁶ School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 721 23 Västerås, Sweden.

Abstract

Background: By means of job crafting (JC) employees shape and customize their job design to align it with their preferences. Research has so far shown that such bottom-up proactivity can be stimulated via JC interventions. While the overall effectiveness behind these interventions has been supported, it is unclear how to implement these interventions to make their effects lasting.

Methods: The overall aim of this project will be to investigate how to implement JC interventions with lasting effects. We will apply a group concept mapping (GCM) methodology, which is a mixed methods approach of exploratory nature for engaging stakeholder groups in a structured conceptualization process. As part of concept mapping procedures, brainstorming sessions will be conducted with experts in job crafting to identify factors expected to make job crafting intervention effects lasting. These factors will be sorted by similarity and rated by each participant in regard to their perceived importance and feasibility to ensure lasting, sustainable effects. The data will be analyzed using multidimensional scaling (MDS), hierarchical cluster analysis, and descriptive and inferential statistics, resulting in a visual representation of conceptually distinguished clusters representing the factors influencing the sustainability of JC interventions. In the final step, a workshop will be conducted with the participants to facilitate the interpretation of the results.

Results and conclusion: This study will provide knowledge relevant to organizational practitioners and scholars who want to implement JC interventions with lasting effects. Although data collected following the group concept mapping procedure is self-reported and at risk of being simplified, the method allows for a structured conceptualization process integrating different perspectives and uncovering implicit knowledge making it suitable for studying complex phenomena. The results will not only enrich the current literature concerning the effectiveness of JC interventions but also be used to develop a practitioner-oriented toolkit outlining evidence-based recommendations concerning designing and implementing, as well as evaluating JC interventions.

Keywords: group concept mapping; implementation; interventions; job crafting.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cluster Analysis
Concept Formation*
Humans

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working life and Welfare (FORTE), grant number 2019-00543. The funding body had no role in the design of the study and will have no role in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data.