Imagine two cleaners at a hospital. The first sees their role very simply: mopping, scrubbing and sanitising. But the second looks at their job differently. They don’t think of themselves as ‘just’ a cleaner, but as someone playing a vital part in patient recovery. So while they carry out their cleaning duties, they also look for other ways to help – such as directing visitors who get lost, or rearranging pictures to look nicer.
Guess which one is the happiest in their work? That’s right – the second one, who’s ‘crafted’ their job.
And we should all learn from their example, because being happy and engaged at work really matters, says Professor Ashlea Troth (Grad Cert Higher Education ’03; M Organisational Psychology ’12), Deputy Director of the Centre for Work Organisation and Wellbeing (WOW). “When people are unhappy, performance and the bottom line suffer. People leave. They call in for all their sick days or mental health days, and absenteeism and turnover go up.”
What really matters
It used to be thought that yoga classes and free snacks helped us stay happy at work. Today, Troth warns, if an organisation has cultural issues, these kinds of perks can make people cynical – and therefore be counterproductive. Associate Professor Carys Chan at the Department of Management agrees. “The research shows that a lot of people feel these incentives are overrated. In fact, if you take gym membership as an example, they prefer to use their own gym memberships away from their colleagues.”
Now, work happiness is less about perks and more about what we actually do all day – as that happy hospital cleaner demonstrates. “Think of job crafting like moulding clay on a pottery wheel,” Troth says. “It’s about how we change the way we do tasks, what we focus on, and how we can work more with the people we enjoy working with.”
Job crafting, she says, aligns your individual skills, motivation and values with your day-to-day tasks, increasing both productivity and satisfaction.
“It gives you increased autonomy and purpose – by shaping your own role, you gain a sense of ownership, control and meaning, which boosts motivation. And it enhances your wellbeing, allowing you to proactively manage stress by reducing demanding tasks – such as decreasing exposure to difficult clients – and increasing resources, such as seeking more social support or professional training.”
Dr Paula Mowbray (B International Business ’95; B International Business Hons ’97; PhD ’16), Senior Lecturer at Griffith’s Department of Management, adds that job crafting isn’t about getting rid of tedious tasks or tricky colleagues, but enhancing the best parts of the job. This brings more meaning and purpose to a role, which ultimately keeps people more engaged and motivated and, in turn, happier.
Free your minds
The challenge with job crafting, however, is that you need something else in your workplace: autonomy and the freedom to choose. “It comes back to agency and whether a manager or the organisation will allow everybody to make those slight adjustments,” Mowbray says.
Mowbray, Troth and Chan all believe autonomy is a critical driver of a healthy workplace in many other ways, too. For Chan, it’s especially true with hybrid work.
“You need to have the freedom to do something when you need to do it, like picking up kids or caring for the elderly,” she says.
“Giving employees the freedom to do what they do at certain hours is still the best way.” When we enjoy this sort of autonomy, we stay in our jobs for longer. And Chan adds that we’re even less concerned about our salaries if we feel supported by our organisations.
We tend to be much happier, too, in workplaces where there is psychological safety, Mowbray says. This means a climate where employees feel they can speak up about things that are worrying them. “How a business responds to an issue is crucial; if a colleague raises a concern and nothing is done, others won’t come forward.” That’s why it’s crucial to have open lines of communication and feedback, even if that’s via anonymous platforms. And managers must be receptive, too. “Having self-aware leaders is important for a great organisation,” Mowbray adds.
Slow change
But job crafting, autonomy and psychological safety are all about culture change at work. That’s far more difficult to create than just offering everyone free pizza on a Friday. So where do you start if you want to make a change? Bring different thinking, suggests Chan. “Good organisations are open to new ideas. They read, they review, they experiment. For example, an organisation recently came in to tell us about introducing a four-day week – the result is that staff turnover and absenteeism have gone down, wellbeing has gone up.”
Mowbray agrees that you need a multi-pronged approach. “It has to come from individuals, leaders, the organisation itself. Leaders that model good behaviour are particularly important – if they’re modelling extremely stressed or inappropriate behaviour, you can’t expect their staff to be any different.”
Troth says that when she started out, 20 years ago, the conversation around emotions in the workplace was very different. “They tended to be ignored, you ‘left them at the door’ and they were not expressed. Now we know they provide important information, drive decision-making and analysis – although we try to be purely rational – and, if recognised appropriately, are linked to wellbeing and psychosocial safety.” So as our workplaces continue to change so rapidly, with everything from AI to home working now in the mix, it’s vital that we keep emotional wellbeing front and centre.
Don’t worry, be happy
- Think about how you can enhance the best parts of your job
- Encourage a culture of psychological safety and autonomy
- Investigate new ideas and ways of doing things
- Get everyone of all levels on board with culture change
Image captions (top to bottom):
- Professor Ashlea Troth.
- Associate Professor Carys Chan.
- Dr Paula Mowbray.
Published 28 May 2026
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