Idiosyncratic Deals at Work: Exploring Individual, Organizational, and Societal Perspectives

Idiosyncratic deals (I-deals) are individualized work agreements negotiated between employee and employer. Examples include working from home, shortened work days and/or weeks, and taking on responsibilities not enumerated in the job description. I-deals fulfil unique employee needs that lay outside the employer’s standard offerings, and engender a wide range of positive outcomes for both parties, such as employee well-being, work-life balance, career development, and enhanced job performance and citizenship behaviors. I-deals have the potential to be a strategic HR device for addressing the changing needs and preferences of employees, employers, and the wider society in the post-pandemic era.

This new collection provides a holistic, integrated and interdisciplinary overview of i-deals from leading scholars in the area. In addressing topics such as the sociological impact of i-deals, issues of power, privilege and fairness, and HR differentiation, this volume examines i-deals at the individual, team, organizational, and societal levels. The book will be useful to scholars and practitioners alike by offering a nuanced understanding of i-deals in workgroup settings, extending research on this relevant topic, and offering managerial prescriptions for institutionalizing i-deals as a global strategic human resource management device.

Smriti Anand is Associate Professor of Management at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart School of Business in Chicago. Her research interests include leadership, diversity, and non-traditional work arrangements (i-deals) with particular focus on multi-level and cross-cultural frameworks. Her research has been published in leading journals of management, such as Academy of Management Journal, Human Relations, Human Resource Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, and Journal of Management Studies. Smriti is currently serving as Co-Editor for Human Relations journal.

Yasin Rofcanin is a Professor of Organizational Psychology and Human Resources Management at University of Bath School of Management. He is also the Director of the Future of Work Research Centre in the School. His research falls in the domains of work-family management, flexible work practices, individualisation of HRM practices, with focus on driving work engagement, proactivity and well-being among employees. His research has appeared in leading journals including Human Relations, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, and Human Resource Management Journal.