Linking job crafting and self-leadership to productivity: a moderated-mediation of personal initiative, person-job fit and person-organization fit

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the effect of job crafting and self-leadership on human capital productivity with the moderated-mediation effect of personal initiative as a mediator and person-job fit and person-organization fit as moderators. Design/methodology/approach: An online two-wave survey targeted 253 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and social science graduates. Findings: The research model was confirmed mainly in that personal initiative fully mediated the relationship between self-leadership, job crafting and perceived employee productivity. In addition, the moderated-mediation effect of the person-job fit on this relationship was partially confirmed, while that of the person-organization fit was not. Originality/value: By interweaving the conservation of resources theory with the self-determination theory, this study’s results provide a novel theoretical justification for the dynamic process of human capital, personal resources and personal initiative as a type of intrinsic motivation. The variance between the effects of person-job fit and person-organization fit provides new insights regarding the changes in the work environment where individuals feel more connected to their careers and jobs than their organizations.