A practical and timely guide that shows employees how to craft the jobs they want and managers how to shape their organizations in ways that are conducive to such job crafting.
Job Crafting is a rigorous, modern take on job redesign that empowers workers to transform the jobs they have into the ones they want. Through the process of job crafting, a worker proactively alters their job to emphasize tasks that better align with their skills or that allow opportunities to learn new skills, with the help of executives who are willing to transform their organizations into supportive work environments. Offering practical guidance grounded in original empirical evidence, British researcher Benjamin Laker and coauthors Lebene Soga, Yemisi Bolade-Ogunfodun, and Adeyinka Adewale describe the steps necessary for businesses and organizations to facilitate that support.
Rather than passively receive job titles and role descriptions, job crafters harness meaning at work through three primary avenues:

• exercising greater control over tasks,
• determining the way tasks are perceived, and
• shaping social context.

Based on thousands of interviews with staff and leaders at such Fortune 500 firms as Apple and Microsoft, the authors' clear, four-step framework shows managers how to maximize staff engagement and productivity by building the systems, structures, and processes that empower workers to job craft. As new principles of stewardship, authenticity, and empowerment redefine the old command-and-control leadership approach, and generations Y and Z seek autonomy and purpose at work, job crafting offers a potential silver bullet to many workforce problems. Aimed at managers, executives, scholars, and executive education students, Job Crafting rejuvenates discussions of job design, leaving readers informed and ready to discuss how to improve their performance and satisfaction in all sectors.

Benjamin Laker is a former government adviser turned scholar who is currently serving as Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School, University of Reading, and Visiting Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London.
Lebene Soga is a multi-award-winning academic and Associate Professor of Management Practice and Entrepreneurship at Henley Business School, University of Reading.
Yemisi Bolade-Ogunfodun is Lecturer in Organizational Behavior and Programme Director at Henley Business School, University of Reading.
Adeyinka Adewale is Associate Professor of Leadership Ethics and Entrepreneurship, and Director of Studies at Henley Business School, University of Reading. He is the founder of Africa Social Innovators' Network.

Series Foreword vii
Preface: Why This Book? ix
1 Why Job Crafting? 1
2 Cognitive Crafting, Task Crafting, and Relational Crafting 17
3 Readiness for Job Crafting 35
4 Permission to Craft 53
5 Creating a Safe Climate for Job Crafting 71
6 Tools for Job Crafting 81
7 Capacity to Job Craft 101
8 Conclusion 111
Notes 125
Index 139