Job Crafting During College and University President Transitions: A Narrative Study of Board Professionals
Open AccessA wave of presidential transitions is expected in higher education within the next several years (ACE, 2017). While the transition of a president can be a monumental and celebrated occasion for a college or university, it is many times accompanied by work disruptions, job uncertainty, and turnover of senior administrators (Overend, 2011; Smerek, 2013; Reed, 2017). One role that is particularly significant and vulnerable during a presidential transition is that of the board professional. The board professional is the primary liaison, planner, adviser, and staffer of a college or university president and governing board. Board professionals are expected to work with the new presidents to move the institution forward, helping them navigate significant challenges and increasing the likelihood of a smooth and successful transition (Cieslak & Mersereau, 2008; Reed, 2017). For board professionals, presidential transitions can provide opportunities for growth but are also associated with uncertainty as they often lead to continuous changes and turnover (Gaval, 2009; Quinn, 2007; Reed, 2017; Smerek, 2013).Job crafting is one approach that helps employees such as board professionals adapt in complex work situations such as those brought on by presidential transitions (Berg, Dutton, & Wrzesniewski, 2008; Demerouti, 2014; Hakanen, Seppala, & Peeters, 2017; Kaltiainen, Lipponen, & Petrou, 2018; Petrou, Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2018; Zhang & Parker, 2019). Job crafting is a process where employees shape their jobs physically by either changing their tasks at work or their interactions with the individuals they work with, or shape their jobs cognitively by changing how they perceive their work (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). This narrative study focused on board professionals’ experience with job crafting during a presidential transition. Eight board professionals who underwent a presidential transition were interviewed for the study. Findings from the study were highlighted within themes of how board professionals shaped new relationships and reframed existing ones throughout the transition; how the significant and unique role of the board professionals influenced their job crafting; and how the board professionals’ loyalty to the president as well as to the institution, its mission, and its students was linked to their job crafting.
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Alvarado_gwu_0075A_15685.pdf | 2022-03-06 | Open Access |
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