Idiosyncratic Deals to Employee Outcomes: Mediating Role of Social Exchange Relationships

The individualized work-related agreements known as idiosyncratic deals (i-deals), which are negotiated between the employee and the employer, has been shown to affect employee outcomes. In this study, we suggest that social comparison theory, in addition to social exchange theory, can be used to explain the effect of i-deals on employee outcomes. This study explains the process through which i-deals lead to positive employee outcomes in the form of increased employee job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, job performance, and reduced employee turnover. We hypothesized that employees' perceived organizational support (POS), quality of relationship with the supervisor known as leader-member exchange (LMX), and quality of the relationship with the supervisor in comparison to others in the group termed as leader-member exchange social comparison (LMXSC) mediates the relationships between i-deals to outcomes. In a sample of 338 faculty employees nested in 49 departments from a private university, we found support for direct relationships between i-deals, outcomes, and mediators (POS, LMX, and LMXSC). We also found partial support for the mediation of LMX and LMXSC. The theoretical and practical implications of results are discussed.