Integrating 'NeedCraft' and 'NeedNurture': a dual-level realist-informed intervention protocol to enhance basic...

From a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective, need crafting holds that the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness can be proactively shaped through intentional changes in behavior and cognition. This protocol outlines the development of an SDT-based intervention targeting both employees ['NeedCraft' (NC)] and their managers ['NeedNurture' (NN)] to enhance need-based experiences in a South African mining organization.

The protocol proposes a quasi-experimental mixed-methods design with a partially randomized delayed-start, assigning departments to an immediate (Group 1: NC + NN), delayed (Group 3: NC + NN), or non-randomized (Group 2: NC only) condition. Effect evaluation will test whether the intervention improves need crafting, perceived leader support, and need satisfaction over time, using linear mixed-effects models with proximal and distal outcomes capturing short- and longer-term improvements. Complementing this, a realist-informed process evaluation is proposed to examine context-mechanism-outcome configurations to explain how, why, and under what conditions change occurs.

The intervention is expected to produce short-term improvements in employees' need crafting behaviors and in perceived need-supportive leader behaviors (proximal outcomes), followed by longer-term improvements in basic psychological need satisfaction (distal outcome), with the dual-level condition (NC + NN) expected to outperform the employee-only condition.

The protocol positions NC and NN as positive psychological interventions and aims to advance theoretical, methodological, and practical understanding of how to design, implement, and sustain need-based interventions in complex organizational settings.