A survey of 887 employees in a German government agency assessed the antecedents and consequences of idiosyncratic arrangements individual workers negotiated with their supervisors. Work arrangements promoting the individualization of employment conditions, such as part-time work and telecommuting, were positively related to the negotiation of idiosyncratic deals ("i-deals"). Worker personal initiative also had a positive effect on i-deal negotiation. Two types of i-deals were studied: flexibility in hours of work and developmental opportunities. Flexibility i-deals were negatively related and developmental i-deals positively related to work-family conflict and working unpaid overtime. Developmental i-deals were also positively related to increased performance expectations and affective organizational commitment, while flexibility i-deals were unrelated to either.

SummaryTwo established approaches to work redesign are formal top-down interventions and proactive bottom-up job crafting. Top-down approaches are limited in their ability to create individually optimized work characteristics, whereas bottom-up processes are constrained by the latitude workers have to modify their own jobs. Following recent research on the idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) individuals negotiate with their employer, task i-deals customizing job content are suggested as a third approach to work redesign. Hypotheses on antecedents and consequences of task i-deals were tested in two studies conducted in the United States and Germany using structural equation modeling. LMX related positively to the extent of successfully negotiated task i-deals, which, in turn, was associated with a more positive evaluation of work characteristics-specifically, higher complexity and control and lower stressors. Work characteristics mediated positive indirect effects of task i-deals on employee initiative and work engagement. Denied requests for task i-deals were associated with a more negative assessment of work characteristics. We conclude with theoretical, practical, and research implications for better understanding and implementing work redesign through i-deals.

Purpose-Idiosyncratic deals are personalized employment conditions individual workers have negotiated. This study aims to investigate influences on supervisors' authorization of ideals and their evaluation of these arrangements. Design/methodology/approach-Structural modeling was used to analyze survey data from n ¼ 263 supervisors managing telecommuting employees in the German public administration. Findings-Supervisors differentiated among ideals regarding development, flexibility, and workload reduction. Their authorization of developmental ideals was influenced by employee initiative. Supervisors viewed these ideals to have positive implications for employee motivation and performance. Flexibility ideals were influenced by structural conditions such as the type of work the employee performed. Supervisors viewed these ideals to enhance work-life benefits. Supervisors tended to grant workload reduction ideals in the context of unfulfilled organizational obligations towards employees. Research limitations/implications-Relying on single-source cross-sectional data, our results provide a managerial perspective on ideals. Conclusions regarding implications for employees are tentative. Recommendations for future study designs are discussed. Practical implications-Managers need to better recognize that ideals take different forms, and these forms are associated with different outcomes. Ideals provide a way to experiment with innovative human resource practices. Originality/value-This is the first study to examine ideals from a supervisor perspective. It is the first to identify differential circumstances and consequences managers associate with authorizing three distinct forms of ideals .

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This study links idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) to job design theory. It investigates the impact of individually negotiated job changes on performance, self-efficacy, and psychological strain through their intervening effects on work design. Based on a sample of 187 health care professionals employed by a hospital in Germany, three types of work designrelated i-deals were investigated: (1) task, (2) career, and (3) flexibility i-deals. Consistent with hypotheses, the three types of i-deal had differential effects on work characteristics, and each in turn related to different outcomes. Specifically, job autonomy mediated the task i-deals-job performance relationship; skill acquisition mediated the career i-deals-occupational self-efficacy relationship; and reduced work overload mediated the flexibility i-dealsemotional and affective irritation relationships. Leader-Member Exchange was confirmed as an antecedent of all three types of i-deals. Task, career, and flexibility i-deals are discussed as ways to make work more intrinsically motivating, ensure one's professional advancement, and balance workplace stressors.