Exploring job crafting among construction managers in the Nigerian construction industry

Abstract

The nature of the construction process subjects employees to excessive work demands, which, when prolonged, can lead to negative health outcomes, such as exhaustion, burnout, and poor mental health. Like other sectors, the construction industry constantly seeks ways to redesign jobs to improve employee health and well-being. One approach trending in the public health domain and emerging in the construction domain is job crafting. This study aimed to provide evidence on job crafting among construction managers by determining job crafting opportunities and examining how construction managers craft their jobs within the Nigerian context. This study employed qualitative methodology involving semi-structured interviews. Twelve purposively selected construction managers were interviewed, and the data were subjected to inductive content and thematic analysis using the MAXQDA software. The result revealed that construction managers in Nigeria job craft using three dimensions “task crafting”, “cognitive crafting”, and “relational crafting”. Various activities were adopted in the three job crafting dimensions; on subjecting the activities to thematic analysis, seven task crafting, five cognitive crafting, and three relational crafting themes were identified. The tasking themes include incorporating technology and training subordinates; relational crafting themes include organizing special events and attending social functions, conflict resolution, and collegiality; cognitive crafting themes include autonomy and mental health. This exploratory study provokes the need for research into bottom-up job design approaches and highlights areas for further research on job crafting within the construction industry.