Job crafting can protect against health problems caused by workload

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health media release 7.8.2024.

According to a study by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, job crafting can be used to learn ways and methods to buffer the harmful physiological effects caused by work-related stress factors. This was studied by monitoring night-time heart rate variability (HRV). Job crafting refers to employee-initiated development of work and working conditions.

For those municipal employees in the test group who had engaged in job crafting after the online training, heart rate variability remained the same despite stress caused by organizational changes. Instead, a decrease in heart rate variability was observed in the control group, indicating a stressed state of the body.

The article was published in the highly regarded Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

Online training increased work engagement

The study also examined if online training can increase work engagement.

Previous research had demonstrated that face-to-face job crafting workshops can be used to learn job crafting, which in turn promotes experiences of well-being at work. 

The results of the study show that online training can have similar effects.

"By studying online, you can learn how to customize your own work. Job crafting can increase the experience of work engagement and, on the other hand, protect from the adverse health effects caused by work-related stress," says Telma Rivinoja, Senior Specialist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

"Work organizations are increasingly using online training to improve well-being at work. So far, many training courses have focused on developing factors other than work-related factors. The training that was studied now is based on theories of well-being at work," says Piia Seppälä, Docent of Occupational Psychology, Specialist Researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

Relationship between health and well-being at work becomes more accurate

The study tested the assumption that improving working conditions could promote an employee's well-being at work in a way that improves their health. 

"Theories of well-being at work and occupational health have taken a negative and disease-centric perspective. Although psychological well-being at work has been shown to be linked to better health, the background theories on well-being at work and occupational health have so far not presented the possibility that well-being at work could also promote health instead of just possibly impairing it," says Piia Seppälä. 

However, based on the results, there is also a link to maintaining health. 

"Traditionally the most common way of taking care of health and work ability in the workplace has been to address excessive stress and various shortcomings in work. Our research supports the view that it is also possible to promote health and work ability by strengthening the positive resources and the experience of work engagement," says Research Professor Jari Hakanen.

Study

• Link to article (in English): Can Job Crafting eLearning Intervention Boost Job Crafting and Work Engagement, and Increase Heart Rate Variability? Testing a Health Enhancement Process
• More information in the previously published online article (in Finnish)
• "Työn imua työtä tuunaamalla" (Work engagement through job crafting) online training (in Finnish) 
  
  

Further information

• Piia Seppälä, Docent of Occupational Psychology, Specialist Researcher, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, piia.seppala@ttl.fi, +358 43 824 4216 
• Jari Hakanen, Research Professor, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, jari.hakanen@ttl.fi, +358 40 562 5433
• Telma Rivinoja, Senior Specialist, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health,telma.rivinoja@ttl.fi, +35850 338 6308