Work engagement–team performance relationship: shared job crafting as a moderator

Abstract

The aims of this study were twofold: first, to investigate whether both individual and team work engagement are associated with team members' perceived team performance, and, second, to explore whether shared job crafting within teams moderates the relationship between work engagement and team members' perceived team performance. Data were collected from 1,074 Finnish educational sector employees working in 102 teams. Multilevel analysis revealed that both individual and team work engagement were associated with high levels of perceived team performance. The association between work engagement (both individual and team) and perceived team performance, however, varied across teams. The variation in the individual work engagement–perceived team performance relation was explained by shared job crafting of resources (but not of challenging demands): The higher the level of increasing structural and social job resources in the team, the stronger the association between individuals' work engagement and perceived team performance in that team. To conclude, shared job crafting in a team promotes a team climate in which, by increasing individual work engagement, it is possible to enhance team performance. Practitioner points Both individual and team work engagement contribute to a team's performance. Engaged employees are able to boost team performance, especially in teams where job crafting is common. Job crafting behaviour should be promoted at both the individual and team level in order to contribute to team performance.