Attaining sustainable employment within organizations: uncovering the impact of job crafting amid contextual and individual influences

Purpose This study aims to elucidate a framework to attain sustainable employment driven by contextual and dispositional determinants mediated by job crafting. The factors under investigation encompass high-quality leader-member exchange (LMX), job characteristics in alignment with the job characteristics model (JCM) and individuals’ approach temperament. Design/methodology/approach This study identified a sample of 222 corporate professionals residing in the Delhi/NCR region. This study used SmartPLS 4 to conduct structural equation modeling to examine and interpret the obtained data. Findings Collectively, LMX, job characteristics and approach temperament exert a beneficial influence on employees who actively engage in job crafting, subsequently enhancing sustainable employment. The findings confirm that the relationship between approach temperament and sustainable employment is fully mediated by job crafting. Furthermore, job crafting partially mediates the relationship between (1) LMX and sustainable employment and (2) job characteristics and sustainable employment. Practical implications Through our study, organizations can gain valuable insights into enhancing employees’ sustainable employability by fostering job crafting. Achieving this objective involves incorporating contextual and dispositional elements like LMX and job characteristics and training individuals on approach temperament. Originality/value This unique study aims to establish a framework to achieve sustainable employment initiated by contextual and dispositional factors. It also contributes to the literature by presenting the mediation effect of job crafting between contextual and dispositional factors and sustainable employment.