Why do employees craft their jobs: a qualitative analysis of job crafting motives from actor and observer perspectives

Purpose Despite its flourishing development since first proposed, job crafting literature has provided limited insights into why people craft their jobs. This study theoretically develops a two-dimensional integrative framework for the motives of job crafting, including orientation (self-oriented vs work-oriented vs other-oriented) and self-determination (autonomous vs introjected vs external) dimensions. We further investigate the specific motives of job crafting from actor and observer perspectives. Design/methodology/approach We conducted two critical-incident recall surveys among 120 and 100 employees from varied sectors and organizations, who responded from the actor and observer perspective respectively. 395 and 299 valid open-ended responses were then collected and coded following the steps for content analysis. Findings Drawing from the proposed two-dimensional theoretical framework, we identified 16 specific job crafting motives from actor and observer perspectives. Practical implications Our findings remind managers to pay attention to employees' motives of job crafting and take appropriate managerial actions according to their varied motives. Originality/value By incorporating job crafting from the motivation literature and identifying diversified motives that drive employees to engage in job crafting, this qualitative study contributes to both the job crafting literature and the broader application of self-determination theory in the field of organizational behavior.