I-Deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Employment Relationships

Abstract

Idiosyncratic employment arrangements (i-deals) stand to benefit the individual employee as well as his or her employer. However, unless certain conditions apply, coworkers may respond negatively to these arrangements. We distinguish functional ideals from their dysfunctional counterparts and highlight evidence of ideals in previous organizational research. We develop propositions specifying both how ideals are formed and how they impact workers and coworkers. Finally, we outline the implications ideals have for research and for managing contemporary employment relationships.

Flow at Work: a Self-Determination Perspective

“…Although this approach is certainly valuable, as it points out how we may design jobs that fulfill people's basic needs, it also makes individuals rather dependent on their work environment. Focusing on how workers may use self-determination strategies to satisfy their basic needs and create flow experiences is more in line with the proposition that employees play an active role in the design of their job (Berg et al 2010), and in the negotiation of their idiosyncratic employment arrangement (Rousseau et al 2006). However, the viewpoint that workers may employ self-determination strategies to satisfy their basic needs and create flow experiences cannot replace the viewpoint that organizations need to offer meaningful and resourceful jobs to their employees.…”

Proactive work behavior: Forward-thinking and change-oriented action in organizations.

“…In contrast to the other types of proactivity that occur within the context of a designated job, this dimension refers to proactivity beyond a specific job, such as actions to secure a job or to get a new job (career initiative, Tharenou & Terry, 1998), or actions to negotiate a better deal prior to accepting a job (ex ante i-deals, Rousseau et al, 2006).…”

“…Proactive person-environment fit behaviors also include those aimed at ensuring the environment supplies the attributes desired or valued by an individual (supplies-values fit), such as job-change negotiation (Ashford & Black, 1996), ex post i-deals and job crafting. Ex post i-deals (Rousseau, Ho, & Greenberg, 2006) are arrangements that are negotiated by a new person in the job to accommodate their personal needs for the joint benefit of the individual and the organization.…”

Future work selves: How salient hoped-for identities motivate proactive career behaviors.

“…For example, people more often move between firms rather than remain in stable jobs (Pfeffer & Baron, 1988). As career paths become less prescribed, individuals need to play an increasingly active role in ensuring their employability throughout the course of their career (Fugate, Kinicki, & Ashforth, 2004), and in achieving jobs and careers in line with their values and current and future needs (Ashford & Black, 1996;Dawis & Lofquist, 1984;Rousseau, Ho, & Greenberg, 2006).…”

“…For example, people more often move between firms rather than remain in stable jobs (Pfeffer & Baron, 1988). As career paths become less prescribed, individuals need to play an increasingly active role in ensuring their employability throughout the course of their career (Fugate, Kinicki, & Ashforth, 2004), and in achieving jobs and careers in line with their values and current and future needs (Ashford & Black, 1996;Dawis & Lofquist, 1984;Rousseau, Ho, & Greenberg, 2006).The rise of non-linear careers has led scholars to pay greater attention to how individuals actively shape their own career future (Seibert, Kraimer, & Crant, 2001;Tharenou & Terry, 1998).Acknowledging the active role individuals play in organizations breaks with the traditional conceptualization of employees as "passive, reactive respondents to their context" (Parker, Bindl, & Strauss, 2010, p. 828) and is part of a broader recognition of the importance of individuals" proactivity in the work place (see Bindl & Parker, in press;Crant, 2000;Frese & Fay, 2001; Grant & Ashford, 4 2008;Parker, et al, 2010, for reviews). Examples of ways in which individuals can proactively manage their future careers include exploring options, setting goals, developing skills and abilities, and accumulating experiences that will ensure their future employability (Claes & Ruiz-Quintanilla, 1998).…”