Let’s Make a Deal

Abstract

Idiosyncratic deals (or i-deals) are mutually beneficial, personalized agreements of a nonstandard nature that are negotiated between individual employees and their employers. This article outlines the development of a 16-item measure of i-deals negotiated by job incumbents. Across four studies, the authors developed a reliable scale with a multidimensional factor structure that replicated across three separate samples. Study 1 was aimed at verifying that they had appropriately specified the domains across which i-deals are negotiated. In Study 2, the authors developed a measure of i-deals and confirmed its reliability and factor structure. Studies 3 and 4 provided further evidence for the psychometric properties of the i-deals measure and examined antecedents and outcomes of i-deals. Overall, the results indicate that employees negotiate i-deals across four content domains (i.e., schedule flexibility, location flexibility, task and work responsibilities, and financial incentives) and that i-deals have important implications for work attitudes.

Reciprocity matters: Idiosyncratic deals to shape the psychological contract and foster employee engagement in times of austerity

“…As such, their scope can vary from a single feature such as working on a different task/project to coworkers, to making every aspect of the employment deal unique (Rousseau, 2005;Vidyarthi et al, 2014). That said, i-deals are occupational-specific (Rosen, Slater, Chang, & Johnson, 2013) as some benefits are not available for some jobs, such as location/distancing flexibility for frontline staff. I-deals are also used in some bureaucratic organizations where employment practices are normally standardized (Hornung et al, 2008), perhaps due to the increasing individualization of the employment relationship, coupled with the drive to be leaner and agile (Bach, 2011;CIPD/PPMA, 2012).…”

“…I-deals can comprise many forms and common small i-deals discussed in the literature that are related to this study include developmental/task i-deals and flexibility i-deals (e.g., Hornung et al, 2008;Rosen et al, 2013). Developmental/task i-deals are particularly interesting given their scope to provide, informal workplace learning.…”

Work-family enrichment through I-Deals: evidence from Chinese employees

“…seeking challenging tasks and learning opportunities (Rosen et al, 2011). Development i-deals enrich the work role experiences of employees, contributing to satisfaction of the need for autonomy and competence, indicated as their selfinvolvement in their work role, i.e.…”

Idiosyncratic deals and employee outcomes: The mediating roles of social exchange and self-enhancement and the moderating role of individualism.

“…Flexibility i-deals refer to special arrangements for work schedules, and workload reduction i-deals are special arrangements for reducing workload and work hours. Our study focuses primarily on developmental and flexibility i-deals, because workload reduction i-deals are not commonly negotiated across jobs (Rosen et al, 2013). Furthermore, reduction i-deals have consequences similar to flexibility i-deals (Liao, Wayne, & Rousseau, 2013;Rosen et al, 2013) and are not relevant to self-enhancement.…”

“…Our study focuses primarily on developmental and flexibility i-deals, because workload reduction i-deals are not commonly negotiated across jobs (Rosen et al, 2013). Furthermore, reduction i-deals have consequences similar to flexibility i-deals (Liao, Wayne, & Rousseau, 2013;Rosen et al, 2013) and are not relevant to self-enhancement. However, developmental i-deals have direct relevance for self-enhancement; they allow more opportunities to develop the employee's competence and career.…”