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- 08 Apr 2024
This week, I had the privilege of participating on the advisory board for Future Skills Prime, where we envisioned the next stage for a skill hub that reaches millions of global professionals, initially rolled out in India.
In these sessions, we deliberated extensively on the methods of suggesting appropriate skills to acquire based on a specific skill or job position despite not primarily aiming for job role-based recommendations. Draup emphasized a particular aspect: within any given job, individuals tailor their roles to suit their unique skills and interests, even when working with identical job descriptions.
This is often called Job Crafting. Here is an example of the same for a software developer example
Two software developers are tasked with managing their workflow under Agile methodologies: one adopts Kanban for its visual structure and focus. At the same time, the other opts for a flexible to-do list, preferring adaptability over rigid frameworks. Despite the same job requirements, they craft their approach to align with personal workstyles.
Job crafting can be categorized into four main types: (a new type of Crafting is emerging called Generative AI Crafting)
Task Crafting: This involves changing the nature of the tasks you perform at work. It could mean altering the scope of your responsibilities, adding new tasks that play to your strengths, or delegating tasks that are less aligned with your interests.
Relationship Crafting: This Type involves changing the nature or extent of your interactions with other people at work. It could mean seeking new collaborators, changing the frequency or depth of your interactions with colleagues, or even finding a mentor.
Cognitive Crafting: This Type involves changing how you perceive your job or certain aspects. It could mean reframing the purpose of your work, focusing on different aspects of your tasks, or finding new meaning in what you do.
Generative AI Crafting: This involves integrating generative AI tools into your work processes to enhance creativity, efficiency, and innovation. It could mean using AI-powered tools to generate new ideas and solutions.
Here is a simple graph of some observational studies/discussions that Draup conducted on the degree of use across Senior and Junior resources in an Enterprise
The provided graph is a stacked bar chart representing the “Degree of Use” of different job crafting types between two groups of employees: Seniors and Juniors. The job crafting types depicted are Task Crafting, Relationship Crafting, Cognitive Crafting, and Generative AI Crafting.
Analytical Summary:
Seniors: The graph indicates that seniors have the highest degree of use in Cognitive Crafting, which suggests they prioritize modifying their perceptions and meanings associated with their work. This is followed by Task Crafting and Relationship Crafting, which are similar in proportion, indicating a balanced focus on altering their tasks and interaction with colleagues. Generative AI Crafting is a newer type of crafting emerging for new ideas.
Juniors: Juniors, on the other hand, display a higher degree of use in Task Crafting than the other types, implying a focus on altering their work tasks. The degree of use for relationship crafting is slightly lower, followed by an equal proportion of cognitive Crafting. Juniors use Generative AI Crafting more than seniors, indicating a greater adoption or reliance on AI tools in their work.
Understanding job crafting is crucial for recruiters, workforce planners, and L&D professionals for several reasons:
For Recruiters:
- Tailored Job Matches: Recognizing job crafting allows recruiters to match candidates based on skill sets and how they might shape the role to their strengths and work styles, leading to better job satisfaction and performance.
- Map Common Skills by Crafting Type to understand how good a fit the candidate is.
- Cultural Fit: Insight into job crafting can help recruiters assess a candidate’s potential to adapt and thrive within the company culture, which is often as important as technical qualifications.
For Strategic Workforce Development:
- Enhanced Productivity: By understanding how employees can leverage their strengths through job crafting, workforce planners can enhance team productivity and innovation.
- Klarnas AI Assistant has declared that it has already performed jobs equivalent to 700 full-time Customer Service Agents.
- Harvey legal AI has automated a lot of the task work for Lawyers
A workforce planner could look at the lens of different human craft characteristics of the job.
- Future-Proofing: As roles evolve with changes in technology and business needs, workforce planners who understand job crafting can better anticipate shifts in skill requirements and proactively develop talent pipelines.
For L&D Professionals
- Personalized Learning Paths: L&D professionals can tailor learning and development programs to accommodate employees’ preferences for how they want to shape their roles, ensuring relevance and engagement.
For a new role like Prompt Engineering, I attempted to map out the different types of Crafts within a role. Here is the table for your reference
Summary: Job crafting emphasizes the human side of jobs by allowing employees to personalize their tasks, relationships, and perspectives. This approach fosters a sense of ownership and purpose, increasing job satisfaction and a deeper connection to the work. It also enhances collaboration and innovation by encouraging employees to explore new ways of working and interacting with others, creating a more fulfilling work experience. It can help us understand the human element of jobs and develop meaningful jobs in this wave of Gen AI.