Paving the Way to Happiness: A Relative Importance Analysis of Proactivity in Work Capabilities

<title>Abstract</title> Sustainable employability is increasingly recognized as a foundation for long-term workforce health and happiness. Work capabilities, which denote employees’ opportunities to attain valued outcomes at work, are central to SE. While previous studies have primarily emphasized organizational-level conversion factors, this study investigates how individual proactivity—specifically proactive personality, job crafting, and playful work design—contributes to employees’ work capabilities, a key indicator of sustainable employability.We surveyed a representative sample of 364 Dutch workers across diverse organizations. Using relative importance analysis with bootstrapped confidence intervals, we examined the unique associations of proactive personality, job crafting, and playful work design with seven work capabilities, controlling for gender and weekly working hours. Proactive personality most strongly predicted capabilities related to using knowledge and skills, participating in decision-making, and setting work goals. Job crafting primarily supported knowledge and skill development. Playful work design uniquely enhanced relational capabilities, such as building meaningful connections and contributing to valued outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of individual agency in shaping sustainable and health-supportive work environments. Integrating proactive behaviors into the capability framework deepens our understanding of how employees can maintain their employability and well-being over time. Managers and HR practitioners should recognize and nurture proactive behaviors among staff to enhance long-term employability and resilience. Designing roles and work cultures that support job crafting and playful engagement can help sustain a healthy and committed workforce in complex care environments.