In France, everyone knows the phrase, "métro, boulot, dodo" (litteraly: commute, work and sleep)...
The routine! We like it for its comfort, and we hate it for its repetitive aspect.
Have you ever felt bored with your work? Putting off some tasks because they bore you and demotivate you?
In 2022 and more than ever, you need to learn how to (re)love your job! Have you heard of job crafting?
Discover: Let's take stock
Once upon a time...
This is the story of a cleaning lady working in a hospital, who decides one day to improvise herself as a decorator. While working in the coma unit in America, she gets the idea to exchange wall decorations in the rooms in order to stimulate the patients' attention. In her own way and through this act (obviously not mentioned in her work contract), she takes pleasure in helping others.
She doesn't know it yet, but at this very moment she is in giving meaning to her work through what is now called "job crafting".
In 2007, three researchers from the Ross School of Management at the University of Michigan invented and defined this new concept, which consists of personalising your job the way you would like it to be.
What if you decide to reinvent your job?
The Sunday night blues, the nerves in your stomach, the signals from your body and stress are often signs it is time for a career change. Some people then consider following a training course.
Read : Should I stay or should I go? How to know if you are ready to quit your current job
But you may still enjoy your job. However, the bad atmosphere at work or some of the tasks you perform may be too stressful for you.
The job crafting is a management method that allows you to "shape your work". The word "craft" refers to craftsmanship, manual work. The idea is to "mold" your job so that it corresponds more closely to your needs and your personality.
How does it work exactly?
With this method, it's time to connect your own motivations with your professional tasks and add a little fun to your career.
This practice is based on 3 levers:
1- Improve the quality of your tasks and how you carry them out
You already know the tasks listed in your job description. Over time, they may even seem slightly redundant, restrictive and monotonous... So say goodbye to rigidity and long live to customisation!
For example, you can :
- review your work habits,
- and the time you spend on certain tasks,
- innovate in the way you work and organise yourself,
- add or delegate responsibilities from your job description,
- ask yourself what you would like to bring to your company.
Your job is not rigid. Moreover, two people doing the same job, don't work the same way.
Personalise your activities: if you like to work with music to help you concentrate, this is the time to bring out your best headphones and listen to your best playlists!
Another example: your boss has sent you a very important document that you had carefully filed away. Unfortunately, when you need it, it's nowhere to be found... Take the time to gather all your files and information that will help you being more organised. You will then enjoy working with later; try Trello and work with your team.
2- Crafting relationships
This second lever highlights the social component and concerns all the people who surround you closely or remotely at work.
There is no need to work alone all the time; communicate with your colleagues and join your talents (we often work much better when we pull our skills all together). Without knowing it, your colleague, (who is less than 5 meters away from you) may be working on a project that annoys him but interests you. Also, you can make the choice to work together with your colleagues and learn more about their missions.
Know that you can also choose to "craft" your relationships with your clients, suppliers etc. You are in control of your decisions.
3- Change your perception
This last point concerns the way you perceive your tasks. The point is to give meaning to what you do by focusing on elements that motivate you.
Improving or developing your perception allows you to respond to the quest for meaning at work.
"Why do you work in your company and what does your job bring you?
If you know what you are working for and what the purpose is, you will make your job more enjoyable and fulfilling.
Job crafting in picture:
Source : https://se-realiser.com/job-crafting/
The benefits of job crafting
The MIT study conducted during the first lockdown shows that 76% of the 1,000 managers and 2,000 employees surveyed crafted their jobs by changing their assignments or the way they were done.
Shaping your own job has many benefits as it allows you to:
- Be more creative by exploring new ways of working,
- Be more committed to your work and therefore perform better,
- Be more satisfied and to go further in your missions, by taking a different path than the one you are used to,
- Be more autonomous and fulfilled,
- Find your own motivation, the one that fits you and that resonates with you,
- And finally to become aware that work can also be fun.
Reinventing your work allows you to stop seeing it as a constraint and make it attractive and in tune with yourself.
"Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy."
If after applying this method you realise that you crave for change, discover the latest job offers in Luxembourg on Moovijob or take the opportunity to follow a training course!
