Crafting sustainable work: development of personal resources
Journal of Organizational Change Management
ISSN: 0953-4814
Article publication date: 31 August 2010
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to conceptualize employees' sustainable work abilities, or their long‐term adaptive and proactive abilities to work, farewell at work, and contribute through working. Sustainable work is defined as to promote the development in personal resources leading to sustainable work ability.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual paper distinguishes vital personal resources underlying an employee's sustainable work ability and categorizes these resources with the help of integral theory. Collaborative work crafting was outlined as a tool to promote the development of personal resources and sustainable work ability.
Findings
Sustainable work ability depends on personal resources relating to our human nature as both individual and communal beings with both interior and exterior worlds. Work crafting may create sustainable work in which existing personal resources are benefited from, developed further through learning, or translated into novel resources.
Practical implications
When formal job descriptions and preplanned job design do not work in post‐industrial work, traditional job design can be replaced by collaborative work crafting, which allows development in both work and employees.
Originality/value
The paper synthesizes different types of personal resources needed for sustainable working and outlines their development processes, rather than adds one more theory to explain some specific aspect of well‐being, development, and functioning. The paper offers one of the first definitions of sustainable work.
Keywords
Citation
Kira, M., van Eijnatten, F.M. and Balkin, D.B. (2010), "Crafting sustainable work: development of personal resources", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 616-632. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534811011071315
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited