Job crafting is defined as “the physical and cognitive changes that individuals make in the task or relational boundaries of their work” (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, p. 179) and has been shown to predict workplace well-being (e.g., Rudolph et al., 2017; Zhang & Parker, 2019).

We propose job crafting as a framework to be integrated into a coaching relationship to help enhance the experience of work for employees and their well-being. This project proposes a randomized controlled trial design to compare two different job crafting-based interventions: a ‘standard’ job crafting intervention used commonly in the literature, and a job crafting intervention that also incorporates solution focused executive coaching techniques (i.e., job crafting-based coaching). Participants (N = 90) will be recruited via the Blueberry Institute, who will also co-fund the research.

Participants will be randomly assigned into conditions. Participants in the intervention group will receive bi-weekly coaching sessions delivered over a 6-week period. Participants will complete a range of validated measures that encompass job crafting, autonomous motivation, well-being, work engagement, job satisfaction, autonomy, burnout, and the perceived meaningfulness of work to evaluate the efficacy of the coaching intervention. Measurements will be taken pre-intervention, post-intervention, as well as at 6-months follow-up. In addition, qualitative interview data will be collected after the conclusion of the study to evaluate the perceived changes employees experienced through the programs, ways they implemented learnings, obstacles faced, and to obtain feedback about how to enhance the program.

The study will contribute to the literature by being the first to examine whether job crafting can be used as a conceptual underpinning for a coaching relationship, thereby providing a promising coaching strategy to enhance careers and enhance the experience of work.