Leadership and employee attitudes and behaviors

Leadership and employee attitudes and behaviors

• 1.
  Theoretical Contribution Our studycontributes to the literature in several ways. • First, this study found a positive association between psychological states: i.e., job-based PO and trust in leader, and job crafting. Individuals with higher levels of job-based PO and trust in leader were more likely to craft their jobs than those who have lower levels of these psychological resources. • These results are in line with the JD-R model that availability of psychological resource leads employees to proactively seek resources and seek challenges. • Furthermore, previous studies largely focused on the outcomes of job crafting, whereas, present study provide insights into the antecedents of job crafting behaviors.” 1
• 2.
  Theoretical Contribution (Cont…) •Second, the results of this study revealed that job-based PO mediates the relationship between TFL and job crafting: i.e., seeking resources and seeking challenges. TFL influence the routes of job-based PO: i.e., control, knowledge and investing oneself (Bernhard & O'Driscoll, 2011), which may enhance employees’ motivation to seeking resources and seeking challenges at the job. • However, no support was found for the mediating relationship between TFL and reducing demands. This could be due to employees with high job-based PO may not consider reducing demands as a coping strategy against stress and burnout (Tims et al., 2012) or reducing demands is a sign of low motivation (Petrou et al., 2012).” Previous studies witnessed that reducing demands have no significant relationship with the performance, or even it has no relationship with negative organizational outcomes (Demerouti et al., 2015). • Previous empirical studies also support the mediating role of job-based PO, which results in positive employees’ attitudes and behaviors (e.g., Bernhard & O'Driscoll, 2011; Kaur, Sambasivan, & Kumar, 2013; Mayhew et al., 2007). • Furthermore, this study also answers scholarly calls (Wang et al., 2018) to examine job- based PO as an underlying mechanism by which TFL affects employees’ job crafting. 2
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  Theoretical Contribution (Cont…) •Third, this study also extends the literature by incorporating trust in leader as a mediator between TFL and seeking resources and seeking challenges. This is because TFL considers followers’ needs, goals, and interest (Chun et al., 2009) that enhances followers’ willingness to be vulnerable to their transformational leader. Furthermore, the dimensions of TFL are closely related to the three dimensions of trustworthiness such as ability, benevolence, and integrity (Wang & Howell, 2010). • However, the results did not show trust in leader as a mediator of the relationship between TFL and reducing demands. This is because of the followers who have a more trusting relationship with their leader may feel more comfortable, safer and less stressed than those who have a less trusting relationship (Kim & Beehr, 2018b). Furthermore, reducing demands reflect as an indicator of incompetence (Tims et al., 2012) and a sign of low motivation (Petrou et al., 2012), which followers might perceive as not justified for their trustworthy leader for whom they feel vulnerable. • Moreover, this study responds to recent calls for empirical work that investigates the mediating role of trust in leader between leadership styles and job crafting (Kim & Beehr, 2018b). 3
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  Theoretical Contribution (Cont…) •Finally, this study revealed that AOC moderates the relationship between psychological states (i.e., job-based PO and trust in leader) and seeking resource and seeking challenges. When the individuals feel more affective organizational commitment they perceive more psychological ownership at a job as well as they are willing to be vulnerable to their leader, which may strengthen the relationship of job-based PO and trust in leader with seeking resources and seeking challenges. • However, no interaction effect was found on the relationship between two psychological states and reducing demands. This is because of at least for two reasons; first, sales employees might be interested in long-run growth and development in the organization; second, they may have career-related risk associated with the reducing demands. 4
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  Methodological contribution • Thisstudy used certain methodological and statistical measures to minimize the threat of common method bias (CMB), such as confidentiality of the participants and providing covering letter stating the purpose of the study. • Furthermore, this study collected transformational leaders’ ratings from subordinates for reducing the risk of CMB. Moreover, Harman’s single factor test was used to evaluate the CMB. • This study controlled the job autonomy and transactional leadership to see if transformational leadership still have a unique effect on job crafting. Empirical contribution • This study empirically tested underlying mediating role of job-based PO and trust in leadership. Further, this study also tested when and how AOC moderates the effects of job-based PO and trust in leader on subordinates’ job crafting behavior in South Asian context (Pakistan). 5
• 6.
  Managerial implications • Jobcrafting is a self-initiated proactive behavior by the employees; however, organizations can get benefit from it by acknowledging its existence, appropriate management and stimulating different forms of crafting. Job crafting can have several implications for individuals as well as organizations. • First, job crafting supplements the traditional top-down approaches to job redesign to attain favorable employees ’ outcomes. The pharmaceutical organizations can introduce job crafting training to their sales employees and can provide support to employees by using job crafting interventions (Berg et al., 2013). Previous research on job crafting interventions showed a positive influence on employees and organizational outcomes (Gordon et al., 2018, Van Den Heuvel et al., 2015). • Second, job crafting motivates the employees to find meaningfulness and a sense of identity in their work, which may help them to stay engaged in their work. For example, Shin et al. (2018) found that job crafting leads to work engagement, which leads employees to job performance. 6
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  Managerial implications (Cont…) •Third, job crafting may help the organization and individuals to strengthen sustainability by adopting the changes according to the environment, as previous research witnessed that job crafting helps the employees to cope with the changes ( Petrou et al., 2018). • Fourth, through promoting TFL, organizations can change employees’ psychological ownership and trust in one’s leader, which might bring positive work outcomes. • Finally, the organizational leaders should consider individuals affective commitment with the organization because it creates emotional bonding with the organization and is associated with positive employees work outcomes. Thus, it is expected that sales individuals might incorporate their motives, strengths and passions at the job through job crafting, which may help the them to achieve their work goals. 7
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  Limitations and futuredirections • First, the data were collected from sales employees of the pharmaceutical sector of Pakistan, which can limit the generalizability of the findings of this study. • Second, this study collected cross-sectional data from a single source (i.e., employees), which might arise the threats of common method bias (CMB) to the results of this study. • Third, this study adopted the JD-R (Demerouti et al., 2001) conceptualization of job crafting which focuses on job characteristics: i.e., job demands and job resources, that can be crafted (e.g., Petrou et al., 2012; Tims et al., 2012). However, there is an alternative conceptualization of job crafting (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001) focusing on task, relational and cognitive boundaries of the job, and future studies can also test our hypothesized relationships by using that forms of job crafting. 8
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  Limitations and futuredirections (Cont…) • Fourth, this study took job-based PO and trust in leader as mediating mechanisms between TFL and job crafting, however, there are other psychological mechanisms: i.e., psychological empowerment, psychological capital, that can also mediate such relationship (Kim & Beehr, 2018b). Furthermore, this study took job crafting in relation to transformational leadership, other leadership styles: i.e., ethical leadership and authentic leadership, can also be studied to enhance our understanding of job crafting behavior. • Finally, this study incorporated AOC as a moderator between psychological states and job crafting, other job characteristics: e.g., stressor, job autonomy and task interdependence, can also work as moderator of this relationship (Parker et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2017). 9
• 10.
  Conclusion Job crafting isa fairly new construct and it has emerged from the last two decades in the field of psychology and organizational behavior (Wrzesniewski and Dutton, 2001, Tims and Bakker, 2010). Job crafting occurs in a variety of organizational settings, at different levels of jobs, different employee roles, across different age groups, and different educational levels (Bruning and Campion, 2018, Zhang and Parker, 2019, Petrou et al., 2012). Given the broad scope of job crafting for employees, managers, and organizations, it is inevitable to understand the mechanisms and behaviors involved with job crafting. The present study take job crafting as a socially innovative approach in which individuals proactively change their job to make a better fit with the work environment. 10
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  References • Bakker, A.B., & Demerouti, E. (2014). Job demands–resources theory. Wellbeing. • Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2013). Job crafting and meaningful work. Purpose and meaning in the workplace, 81, 104. • Tims, M., Derks, D., & Bakker, A. B. (2016). Job crafting and its relationships with person– job fit and meaningfulness: A three-wave study. Journal of Vocational behavior, 92, 44-53. • Wang, H., Demerouti, E., Blanc, P. L., & Lu, C. Q. (2018). Crafting a job in ‘tough times’: When being proactive is positively related to work attachment. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology. • Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179-201. • Zhang, F., & Parker, S. K. (2019). Reorienting job crafting research: A hierarchical structure of job crafting concepts and integrative review. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(2), 126-146 11
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  References cont… • Bruning,P. F., & Campion, M. A. (2018). A role–resource approach–avoidance model of job crafting: a multimethod integration and extension of job crafting theory. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2), 499-522. • Hetland, J., Hetland, H., Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2018). Daily transformational leadership and employee job crafting: The role of promotion focus. European Management Journal. • Kim, M., & Beehr, T. A. (2018b). The Power of Empowering Leadership: Trust and Psychological Capital Resulting in Job Crafting. Paper presented at the Academy of Management Proceedings. • Lazazzara, A., Tims, M., & De Gennaro, D. (2019). The process of reinventing a job: A meta– synthesis of qualitative job crafting research. Journal of Vocational behavior. • Tims, M., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Job crafting: Towards a new model of individual job redesign. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(2), 1-9. • Wang, H., Demerouti, E., & Le Blanc, P. (2017). Transformational leadership, adaptability, and job crafting: The moderating role of organizational identification. Journal of Vocational behavior, 100, 185-195. 12