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Optimising Employee Mental Health: The Relationship Between Intrinsic Need Satisfaction, Job Crafting, and Employee Well-Being

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Abstract

Organisations are frequently confronted with the issue of how to enhance employee mental health. Based on self-determination theory, a model is proposed that examines the relationships between job crafting, the satisfaction of the intrinsic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness at work, and employee well-being—defined here as both subjective well-being and psychological well-being. A sample of 253 working adults completed a battery of questionnaires including the Job Crafting Questionnaire, the Intrinsic Need Satisfaction Scale, and the Mental Health Continuum. Using structural equation modelling methods, it was determined that job crafting predicted intrinsic need satisfaction, which, in turn, predicted employee well-being. The results suggest that job crafting may be an important underpinning upon which to base an employee well-being intervention.

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Notes

  1. Note: χ2/df = normed Chi square, CFI = comparative fit index; NNFI = non normed fit index; IFI = incremental fit index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr Simon Albrecht and Dr Simon Moss of Monash University, who offered valuable statistical insight and advice that greatly assisted the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Building 17 Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Victoria, 3800, Australia

    Gavin R. Slemp & Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick

  2. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, 100 Leicester Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia

    Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick

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  1. Gavin R. Slemp
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Correspondence to Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick.

Appendix: The Job Crafting Questionnaire

Appendix: The Job Crafting Questionnaire

Employees are frequently presented with opportunities to make their work more engaging and fulfilling. These opportunities might be as simple as making subtle changes to your work tasks to increase your enjoyment, creating opportunities to connect with more people at work, or simply trying to view your job in a new way to make it more purposeful. While some jobs will provide more of these opportunities than others, there will be situations in all jobs where one can make subtle changes to make it more engaging and fulfilling.

Please indicate the extent to which you engage in the following behaviours by indicating a 1 (hardly ever) to 6 (very often).

 

Item

 

Task crafting

1

Introduce new approaches to improve your worka

2

Change the scope or types of tasks that you complete at work

3

Introduce new work tasks that you think better suit your skills or interests

4

Choose to take on additional tasks at work

5

Give preference to work tasks that suit your skills or interests

 

Cognitive crafting

6

Think about how your job gives your life purpose

7

Remind yourself about the significance your work has for the success of the organisation

8

Remind yourself of the importance of your work for the broader community

9

Think about the ways in which your work positively impacts your life

10

Reflect on the role your job has for your overall well-being

 

Relational crafting

11

Make an effort to get to know people well at work

12

Organise or attend work related social functions

13

Organise special events in the workplace (e.g., celebrating a co-worker’s birthday)a

14

Choose to mentor new employees (officially or unofficially)

15

Make friends with people at work who have similar skills or interests

  1. aItem adapted from Leana et al. (2009)

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Slemp, G.R., Vella-Brodrick, D.A. Optimising Employee Mental Health: The Relationship Between Intrinsic Need Satisfaction, Job Crafting, and Employee Well-Being. J Happiness Stud 15, 957–977 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9458-3

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