Introduction
This essay is a case study of job crafting at Burt’s Bees, an overview of what job crafting is, various concepts associated with it, and the role it plays in shaping the employees of the company. It focuses on four employees of the company and the ways they crafted their jobs so as to achieve the tasks allocated to them.
Discussion
Job crafting in a workplace refers to when employees change their task description to make it satisfactory to them. It helps the employees find meaning and makes their jobs more engaging; hence, they thrive in what is allocated to them (Berg et al., 2008). Employees often craft their tasks to align nicely with individual strengths and motives. Job crafting takes three forms: task crafting, relational crafting, and Cognitive crafting (Dutton & Wrzesniewski, 2020). Task crafting involves changing the sequence and the number of tasks by taking more or fewer. Relational crafting refers to altering the nature or to what extent they relate with people at work. Crafting helps employees engage and come up with ideas. Cognitive crafting involves employees changing their job description by changing how they perceive or interpret the tasks or work allocated to them.
Attitude refers to a feeling that affects someone behavior towards something. A good attitude is beneficial in doing any task; therefore, cognitive crafting plays a role in changing how a person performs their work. Employee engagement aligns with relational crafting since it creates a bond with colleagues and propels them towards positive outcomes. Job satisfaction refers to the contentment that employees feel toward their job. Employees craft their jobs to find satisfaction by adding or removing some tasks.
Roxanne Quimby and Burt Shavitz founded Burt’s Bees in 1984 after they used the left-over beeswax to produce candles that they sold during a craft fair. The beeswax used to make candles was from Burt’s honey business. At first, they sold candles worth $200, but at the end of the year, the sales were at $20,000, and they were still spiking (Berg et al., 2010). After moving to a more spacious room, they were able to expand the production of other goods like personal care products. Burt’s Bees was able to employ many people after the expansion. In 2006, its sales hit $250 million from the increasing range of products (Berg et al., 2010). The company strives not to leave its core values behind with its growth.
Job crafting is vital to the four employees of Burt’ Bees since they can work to perform work to their potential. Mindy, a Burt’s Bees employee, finds satisfaction by challenging herself. Mindy works in a customer care job; she always asks for extra tasks from the supervisor. However, the extra work may seem like she enjoys doing it since she loves taking up new challenges. She also volunteers at trade shows, making her job more engaging and satisfying. She uses relational crafting since her communication strength helps create a good relationship with clients. According to Mindy, she finds job satisfaction when others are relying on her.
Jake’s job involves minimal interaction with people, although he enjoys mingling with other people. He has crafted a way of interacting with people formally without affecting his job (Berg et al., 2010). He engages with other employees so that he can learn from them how they assemble new equipment. Jake is required to train new compounding employees. The same case applies to Luke, Ben, and Correy, who are hospital custodians. Their work does not involve interaction with patients, but they aim to care for the welfare of the patients (Schwartz, 2015). Luke, Ben, and Correy find satisfaction in helping the patients other than cleaning.
Andy’s strength lies in projects that are helpful in his work, although they are way out of his job description. He is not satisfied as a maintenance engineer, but this does not limit him. He cares for the environment and is fit for the job. Andy researches ways to reduce energy by requesting his superior to conduct the studies to make the processes more efficient (Berg et al., 2010). Although his studies had successful results, he cognitively crafted his work to his satisfaction. Andy has created meaningful work that makes the processes energy efficient.
Karen has cognitively crafted a way of dealing with less enjoyable tasks. Unlike her three colleagues, she does not have time to do extra tasks. She has managed to make her job creative, although it lacks excitement most, especially on the analytical side. When starting the work, she tries to have a positive attitude by creating a mental picture of the products so that it can bring out her creativity.
Conclusion
The support from their supervisor allowed Jake, Andy, Mindy, and Karen to work effectively and impact the company. The other factor was their attitudes towards the various tasks that enabled them to make progress in their work. Managers should, therefore, create room for crafting since employees can make valuable contributions, increase their performance, and make work enjoyable. Crafting has hugely increased Burt’s Bees’ performance. In conclusion, crafting can play a massive role in the company’s growth, given that the employees do not ignore the various roles. For successful crafting, it is recommended that managers should adapt job crafting since it encourages resourcefulness.
References
Berg, J. M., Kahn, R. L., & Dutton, J. E. (2010). Job cafting at Burt’s Bees. Case Study.
Berg, J. M., Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2008). What is job crafting, and why does it matter? Web.
Dutton, J. E., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2020). What job crafting looks like. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Schwartz, B. (2015). Why we work. Simon & Schuster.