Abstract
Organisations are growing more concerned about how employees adapt and respond to changing work systems and uncertainty due to technological advancements. As such, much attention is given to how employees design their work to remain productive. Over the years, research have concentrated on the self-initiated proactive behaviours of employees in designing work through the job crafting process. Job crafting involves employees proactively reshaping their tasks, relationships, and perceptions to align with their strengths and interests, leading to increased motivation, job satisfaction, and overall job productivity. The study aimed to investigate the relationships between job crafting, job satisfaction, and work role performance of corporate functions employees within the FMCG industry.
A quantitative research approach was followed, and a cross-sectional research design was adopted. Data were collected from 217 employees from the corporate functions business unit in an FMCG company located in the Gauteng province, South Africa. To achieve the research objectives, various statistical techniques were employed. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied, including exploratory factor analysis, and the Pearson product-moment correlation was utilised to address the research questions. Additionally, multiple regression analysis was conducted.
The study's findings suggest a relationship between job crafting and job satisfaction and between job crafting and work role performance. However, task crafting was the only significant predictor of job satisfaction and work role performance, while relational crafting and cognitive crafting did not predict these outcomes.
The implications for HR and management involve a reassessment of the nature of the industry’s operations to be more flexible and to support employees’ job crafting initiatives within the South African context. This study will aid HR practitioners in understanding the critical role of job crafting in enhancing job satisfaction and employee performance. Recommendations based on job crafting for influencing job satisfaction and performance are tabulated to highlight findings from analyses. These recommendations include tailored training workshops, mentorship programmes,
feedback sessions, and performance improvement plans to encourage effective job crafting practices.