Stimulating employability and job crafting behaviour of physicians: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

The demanding work context of physicians challenges their employability (i.e., their ability and willingness to continue to work). This requires them to proactively manage their working life and employability, for instance, through job crafting behaviour. This randomized controlled intervention study aimed to examine the effects of a personalized feedback report on physicians’ employability and job crafting behaviour. A total of 165 physicians from two hospitals in a large Dutch city were randomly assigned to a waitlist control or intervention group in May 2019. Physicians in the intervention group received access to a personalized feedback report with their employability scores, suggestions to improve these and to engage in job crafting. Participants completed a pre-test and eight weeks later a post-test. RM MANOVAs and RM ANOVAs showed that the intervention enhanced participants’ perceptions of their mental (F (1,130) = 4.57, p < 0.05) and physical (F (1,135) = 16.05, p < 0.001) ability to continue working. There was no effect on their willingness to continue to work. Furthermore, while job crafting behaviour significantly increased over time, the personalized feedback report did not account for this change. This low-investment intervention is relevant for organizations to stimulate employees’ proactivity and create positive perceptions of their ability to continue to work. Moreover, this study contributes to the literature by examining a novel approach of a job crafting intervention that does not require many resources to implement.