How job crafting relates to task performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between extending and reducing job crafting behavior, cognitive crafting and task performance. Design/methodology/approach – Hierarchical regression analyses of data from 131 employee-supervisor pairs were conducted to analyze the differential relations of five job crafting dimensions to self- and supervisor-rated task performance. Findings – The present study shows that reduction behavior is rated as counterproductive, and extension behavior is rated as productive in terms of task performance by employees themselves. Supervisors rated task performance higher when employees extended their tasks, and lower when they reduced relationships. Research limitations/implications – Future research should test the hypotheses in a longitudinal setting and should focus processes that moderate the differential job crafting-task performance relationships. Originality/value – By distinguishing extending and reducing task and relational boundaries and cognitive crafting, the authors give first evidence to possible negative sides of job crafting.