The Interaction Between Perceived Task Complexity, Individual Work Orientation, and Job Crafting in Explaining Flow Experience at Work

Abstract

This study assessed the interaction between perceived task complexity, individual work orientation, and job crafting in explaining flow experience at work. The study was conducted using the National Social Security Fund of Uganda. Individual work orientation and perceived task complexity were assessed as the independent variables, job crafting as the mediating variable, and flow experience as the dependent variable. The study was based on work environments not necessarily being very friendly, yet employees are expected to be happy and post a positive performance. Thus it was expected that the independent variables would boost employees’ proactive behaviors towards achieving peak performance. The study adopted a cross-sectional design employing a quantitative approach. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to a target study group of 387 individuals selected using random sampling. The results indicated that individual work orientation and perceived task complexity were good predictors of job-crafting behavior amongst employees, which is considered a proactive effort to redesign one’s work in order to make it more bearable or interesting. Equally, it was found that job crafting is one of the means of fostering flow experience which is characterized by work enjoyment, intrinsic motivation, and absorption. Given the results, it can be deduced that when the work is not clear or is complex, employees tend to proactively seek ways to make it easier through different initiatives; driven by their internal work desires they proactively seek for ways to achieve their end result successfully. When this is done, their work becomes more enjoyable, and they apply fully their concentration.