Craft a job better, recover better? The roles of work–nonwork conflict and work demands

Based on the conservation of resources theory, this two-wave study investigated the mediating role of work-nonwork conflict in the relationship between job crafting and employee recovery experience and examined the moderating role of work demands in this relationship. Participants were 486 employees (39.3% male and 60.7% female) from a medical company in the central region of China who responded to a paper-and-pencil survey twice with a 1-month interval. Regression-based results indicated that job crafting positively predicted recovery experience after work through lower work-nonwork conflict. Furthermore, the association between job crafting and work-nonwork conflict was moderated by work demands, such that the effect was stronger for employees with higher work demands. The present study explains how job crafting may improve employees' after-work recovery experience and addresses whether this process could be more significant for employees with higher work demands. The conclusion has practical implications for improving employee recovery experience.