Are your gains threat or chance for me? A social comparison perspective on idiosyncratic deals and coworkers' acceptance

Abstract

Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) refer to customized work arrangements and employment conditions employees negotiate with employers. Significant scholarly attention has been paid to understand the responses of i-deals' recipients. However, little attention has been paid to coworkers' reactions to the i-deals. This study examines how coworkers react to focal employees' i-deals. We tested our hypotheses with a sample of 253 employee–coworker pairs and found that coworkers are more likely to accept focal employees' flexibility i-deals than development i-deals. Specifically, we found that coworkers view focal employees' development i-deals as more threatening to their status than flexibility i-deals, and status threat mediates the relationship between development i-deals and coworkers' acceptance. In addition, flexibility i-deals increase coworkers' perception of obtaining future i-deals more than development i-deals, and this perception mediates the relationship between flexibility i-deals and coworkers' acceptance. Furthermore, the results show that coworkers' relative leader–member exchange moderates the above relationships.

Employability Paradox: The Effect of Development Idiosyncratic Deals on Recipient Employees’ Turnover Intention

“…Development i-deals were measured with Rousseau and Kim (2006) 4-item scale. The effectiveness of this scale has been confirmed by Wang et al (2018) and Zhang et al (2020). And a sample item is "To what extent have you asked for and successfully negotiated with your supervisor for training opportunities" (α = 0.743).…”

“…Employees who received development i-deals may possess more valuable resources and greater development space than their coworkers who did not obtain i-deals (Huo et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2020). Those recipients may view leaving the current organization as a risk and a personal loss of resources, and therefore they may not be inclined to leave (De Cuyper and De Witte, 2011).…”

“…First, as mentioned above, development i-deals refer to employers offering customized opportunities in order to promote particular employees’ working skills and career development, such as on-the-job training, promotion opportunities, or challenging work assignments ( Hornung et al, 2009 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). From the perspective of the content, development i-deals may be helpful to increase the recipients’ work ability, and thus enhance their perceived internal employability.…”

“…Recipient employees with a high level of opportunity to perform may perceive that they not only have special opportunities for training or improving their work-related skills, but also the opportunities to develop advanced skills and knowledge to optimize the completion of tasks, thus demonstrating or showing their abilities ( Ford et al, 2006 ). Moreover, the i-deals literature has indicated that i-deals can deliver a signal to the recipient employees that they may have a broader development space than their coworkers ( Zhang et al, 2020 ). And recipient employees’ perceptions of high opportunity to perform may further enhance such cognition.…”

“…Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) are voluntary and personalized agreements of a non-standard nature negotiated between individual employees and employers regarding employment terms that can benefit each party ( Rousseau et al, 2006 ). Development i-deals refer to the individualized opportunities to develop working skills, enhance professional competencies, and meet personal career aspirations, which are essential for higher performance, greater occupational success, and a larger space for promotion ( Zhang et al, 2020 ). In human resource management practice, development i-deals often manifest as challenging work assignments, special training opportunities, or career development opportunities in the organization ( Marescaux et al, 2019 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ).…”