Job Crafting: Challenges, Hindrances, and Resources
Job demands cost energy and affect job stress and health. Job resources affect motivation and performance and can buffer the negative affects of demands.
All job characteristics can be thought of as either demands or resources. This is the foremost proposition of the Job Demands-Resources theory of job stress and motivation, which I described in Stay Woke About Work: Job Demands and Resources Shed Light on Stress and Motivation.
Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman’s classic 1984 book, Stress, Appraisal, and Coping, defined different kinds of stressors: challenges and hindrances. Jeffery LePine and his team at University of Florida expanded on this and found that challenge demands are linked to improved job performance; hindrance demands lead to impaired work engagement and performance.
Opportunities and Obstacles
We'll get to some examples, but for now know that:
Challenge demands cost energy but are viewed by workers as opportunities to grow, improve, advance, achieve.
Hindrance demands cost energy and are perceived as unnecessary obstacles, thwarting personal growth, wellbeing, and achievement.
(By the way, there also are different types of resources — for example, job resources and personal resources. Job resources include things like performance feedback, training, and autonomy; personal resources include self-efficacy (confidence in your ability to have an effect) and optimism. For a more detailed and expert analysis of different types of demands and resources, see Maria Tims and Arnold Bakker's article, "Job Crafting: Towards a New Model of Job Redesign.”)
Demands-Resources Job Crafting
In job crafting with the JD-R model, employees
Seek resources
Seek challenge demands
Reduce hindrance demands
Some of what researchers point to as resources — like performance feedback and training — are sometimes viewed by employees as hindrances. And occasionally there’s a fine line between a resource like autonomy and a hindrance demand like role ambiguity.
For clarification, it’s helpful to see what experts consider demands and resources. Below are examples adapted from a book chapter called “A Critical Review of the Job Demands-Resources Model: Implications for Improving Work and Health,” by Wilmar Schaufeli and Toon Taris.
Job Demands
Cognitive demands
Computer problems
Downsizing
Emotional demands
Interpersonal conflict
Job insecurity
Work-family conflict
Difficult customers
Physical demands
Reorganization
Inadequate rewards
Role ambiguity
Harassment
Unfavorable shift work schedule
Unfavorable work conditions
Work pressure
Work-home conflict
Work overload
Job Resources
Advancement
Appreciation
Autonomy
Rewards
Goal clarity
Information
Innovative climate
Leadership
Professional development
Participation in decision making
Performance feedback
Procedural fairness
Positive customer interactions
Quality of the relationship with the supervisor
Safety climate
Social support
Skill utilization
Strategic planning
Task variety
Team harmony
Trust in management
Values
Personal Resources
Emotional and mental competencies
Intrinsic motivation
Self-determination
Optimism
Organization-based self-esteem
Resilience
Self-efficacy
Values