Processes of older workers' idiosyncratic deals: Antecedents, motivations, negotiations, lifespans, and outcomes

Abstract

Across many developed nations, population structures are ageing and are projected to continue doing so for decades to come (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2019). Older workers are a rising and increasingly important part of the global workforce, raising questions about how best to support and retain them. One practical method to address their diverse needs and circumstances is through idiosyncratic deals (i-deals). I-deals are individually negotiated work arrangements that create mutual benefits for employees and employers. Research has found that granting i-deals to older workers promotes a number of positive outcomes, including employability and longer workforce engagement (Bal et al., 2012; Oostrom et al., 2016). Despite recognising that i-deals are useful for older workers and research indicating various positive outcomes, we know very little about how older workers create i-deals with their employers and how these i-deals play out over time. This is an oversight for i-deals research, as the antecedents, motivations, negotiations, and lifespan processes of i-deals can have significant impacts on the costs and benefits of providing i-deals for older workers. The development, creation and lifespans of i-deals were investigated in this thesis, through three empirical studies. Study 1 used qualitative methods to investigate older workers' motivations to request i-deals and the stages involved in the subsequent development of i-deals - from request to receipt to i-deal outcomes. Through 82 interviews with older Australian workers, I identified four factors that influence older employees' i-deal motivations and six outcomes of receiving i-deals for older workers. Moreover, the emergent framework of Study 1 demonstrated the importance of separating two key stages of i-deal development - request and receipt - as different variables influence the progression of each of these stages. Study 2 applied a longitudinal narrative approach to analyse qualitative data collected over three years. This approach promoted the use of process theorising (Langley, 1999) to better understand the temporal unfolding of i-deals lifespans post-receipt. Analysis of the data revealed four types of i-deal lifespans and outlined four factors that promote positive i-deal lifespans, labelled 'helping factors', and four factors that can derail and damage i-deal lifespans, labelled 'hindering factors'. The results of Study 2 speak to the importance of recognising the unique trajectories of i-deals to ensure i-deal success in the long term. Study 3 presented a quantitative examination of i-deals motivations through the theoretical lens of expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964), further refining our understanding of how i-deals motivations are formed. Time-lagged data were collected in three waves to empirically test a model of i-deal motivation antecedents, motivation perceptions, i-deal request intentions and i-deal request behaviours over seven months. Results supported the application of expectancy theory to better understand the cognitive-motivational processes of employees' decisions to initiate i-deal negotiations. This research makes three key theoretical contributions. First, by examining i-deals motivations - through abductive qualitative analysis and via a novel theoretical lens - I contribute to the nascent field of understanding individuals' motivations to pursue individualisation at work. Second, by distinguishing different stages in i-deal negotiation processes, I contribute to a more refined understanding of how i-deals negotiations progress and the different factors at play at different stages. Third, by implementing a process-theorising approach to i-deals lifespans, I introduce a practical typology to conceptualise and distinguish i-deals lifespans and draw attention to the importance of employee and employer actions to keep i-deal lifespans healthy and on track.