THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ORGANISATIONAL CRAFTING BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND WORK ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

With the shift to a bottom-up approach in organisational structures, more employees are working in teams and sharing tasks that align with their personal work identities. This study examines whether organisational crafting mediates the relationship between servant and transformational leadership and work engagement using a cross-sectional research design. Organisational crafting refers to the proactive ways employees shape and redefine their roles, tasks, and interactions within the workplace. It involves how they adjust their daily activities, modify tasks, and optimize relationships to better align with their strengths, interests, and the overall goals of the organisation. On a cognitive level, employees attribute greater meaning and purpose to their work, leading to enhanced job satisfaction and contributing to the overall success of the organisation. Data were collected from 90 participants using convenience sampling methods from two well-known organisations in the Netherlands and the professional LinkedIn platform. Statistical analysis was performed using linear regression, and mediation was explored using the PROCESS macro with bootstrapping (5000 samples). The findings suggest that organisational crafting does not mediate the relationship between servant leadership and transformational leadership on work engagement. Instead, both leadership styles have a direct impact on work engagement, and organisational crafting is associated to work engagement. These findings suggest that organisations manage leadership styles and organisational crafting independently in job design strategies to maximize work engagement. This study presents the development of a reliable organisational crafting scale and contributes to the literature by highlighting the distinct and direct roles of leadership styles and organisational crafting in fostering work engagement.