Are managers also ‘crafting leaders’? The link between organizational rank, autonomy, and job crafting

Although research has examined the role leaders may play in shaping job re-design behaviors among their subordinates, little is known about the way managers craft their jobs as compared to other employees. In two cross-sectional studies we tested whether organizational rank affects the frequency of job crafting (H1), and to what extent this relationship is mediated via perceived autonomy (H2). Study 1 (N = 267) demonstrated that managers craft their jobs more frequently than non-managers by increasing structural job resources and seeking challenges at work. We also showed that autonomy explains the relationship between organizational rank and the frequency of increasing structural and social job demands, as well as seeking challenges. However, managers did not craft their jobs by decreasing job demands more often than regular employees. In Study 2 (N = 262) we replicated this pattern of results, subsequently demonstrating that managers with shorter tenure use their autonomy to craft their jobs via decreasing job demands. We discuss the contributions and potential implications of these results.