Happy Labor Day!  In honor of this holiday that “celebrates the social and economic achievements of American workers” (dol.gov), this post will focus on boosting our happiness at work through job crafting.

I first learned the term “job crafting” from The Happiness Lab podcast by Dr. Laurie Santos. Dr. Laurie is a psychologist at Yale who teaches the most popular course on campus, Psychology and the Good Life.  The class and the podcast teach simple and practical ways to boost our happiness using psychological principles.  Dr. Laurie takes a scientific study and uses her funny and approachable style to offer real-world methods for improving wellbeing in our personal lives and at work.

In the episode on job crafting (found here) Dr. Laurie covers the idea that work is much more than a place to earn money.  Everyone wants to do work that matters and job crafting is a way to reframe our work in order to recognize the contributions we make.  And this concept can apply in any work environment – even low-prestige jobs.

I love the interview with Marty, the Yale pest control specialist, who loves his work and views it as a way to contribute to the world.  Pest management isn’t typically considered a glamorous role, but Marty uses job crafting to view his work as helping the students on campus.  They feel comfortable and have a good living experience, in part because he’s available to remove unwanted critters.

Another example of job crafting referenced in the podcast involves hospital janitorial staff on a chemotherapy ward.  These folks might also view their job as not-so-glamorous, especially since a big part of the work involves cleaning up vomit.  Dr. Laurie uses the example of trying to brighten a patient’s day by making light of this cleaning up and saying “it’s alright because it’s job security for me.”  If pest control and vomit-cleaning can be jobs that matter then any of us can find something about our work that matters.  

Job crafting is a way for us to bring our unique strengths to our work.  It’s good for our mental health to have a purpose and feel that our contributions matter.  Cashiers can job craft with small talk that makes someone smile as they ring up their purchase.  Farmers can job craft by remembering that the long days of harvest feed the livestock and the people of the world. Garbage collectors can job craft by remembering that without them, cities would be breeding grounds for the plague.

Happy Labor Day!  May you return to work tomorrow refreshed and focusing on the unique contribution you make there.