REDEFINE THE JOB YOU FIND BORING

In spite of the HR managers taking great caution while selecting and placing a candidate to a job, it is astonishing that approximately more than half of the people who are employed are not engaged in their work. They don’t have a required level of excitement and enthusiasm which is needed for a breakthrough performance. Actually, it is the passion that acts as a catalyst for exemplary performance and contended life. A person who enjoys his work, and has absolute zeal, neither feels exhausted and dispirited nor think of hopping to a new organization.

Therefore, if a person is not happy with his work life before making a move to find a new job, which is again a cumbersome task, especially in India where unemployment is one of the major economic problems, must ponder upon the ways that could instill the joy and excitement in his work life. In this regard Amy Wrzesniewski advocated that the key to a meaningful and exciting life lies in the hand of employees themselves, who often yearn for it and came up with a useful approach called “Job Crafting”.

Job crafting is referred to as a series of actions taken by the employees to sculpt their work in an entirely new and imaginative way that fits more closely with their predilections, dreams and knacks. According to Berg, Dutton and Wrzesniewski (2013) task crafting, relational crafting and cognitive crafting are the three variants of job crafting.

An employee is said to perform task crafting if he either expands his job description by incorporating additional tasks of his choice considering his enthralment, flair and expertise or modifies his style of performing duties assigned to him.

For example, A professor who has an ardent love for creative writing helps content writer of his academic institution in creating compelling and engaging content for the website of institution.

A nutritionist could spend more of her time to clients in imparting knowledge regarding ways that lead to healthier life rather than just prescribing an excellent diet plan and can fill her job with purpose.

An employee is said to perform relational crafting if he forms strong relationships through repeated interactions with the people of his work place, with whom the interactions are out of his role requirement but are instrumental in making his work more enjoyable and meaningful. For example, A professor who enjoys creating a public relations might develop a relationship with the TPO of his institution to have a healthy discussion on the possible initiatives that can be undertaken in the near future to drive the tie-ups with the top notch companies for placement, training, research and consulting requirements.

However, highly structured jobs are characterized by the inherent inflexibility and limit the employees to form new relations. Such a situation demands them to be accommodating in their existing relational framework to ignite merriment in their work life. An employee can do so by making an attempt to revitalize his already existed relationships through lending his hands to others so that they could discharge their duties efficiently and above all he could flourish symbiotic associations with them.

For example, Two professors of same department might choose adapting relationships which nourish a meaningful symbiotic association that offers win-win condition for both of them.

An employee is said to perform cognitive job crafting when he actually does not put an effort to reformulate his job description which basically outlines the set of tasks to be performed and interaction to be made by him for performing his job in an efficient and effective manner rather starts visualising his job in a manner that adds purpose and passion into his work life.

For example, A professor might see his job as a chance to transform the society and build the nation, not just to deliver lectures on the allotted subject.

To sum up, don’t get depressed by viewing your job as a catalog of various monotonous job tasks and start crafting it on a daily routine to turn your less exciting job into one that interests you.

Author
Ms. Jyoti Joshi
(Ms. Jyoti Joshi is a faculty of management in Lal Bahadur Shastri Group of Institutions. She has more than 5 years experience in teaching and research work. She has actively participated in national and international conferences organized by various prestigious bodies. Her areas of interest are HRM, Consumer Behaviour, Organizational Behaviour and Environmental Management.)