Abstract
We describe how idiosyncratic deals (I-deals), in this case I-deals focused on workers’ employability enhancement, can serve as a powerful strategic HR tool for simultaneously meeting both the strategic goals of employers and the career goals of employees. Building on a sustainable career perspective, I-deals are interpreted as highly valuable, as they can help individual employees to more easily adapt to the fast-changing environments that nowadays characterize society and the labor market. After theoretical outlines on the concepts of I-deals and employability, we argue that I-deals can form the basis for integrative employment relationships aimed at employability enhancement. This article concludes with concrete recommendations for practice, indicating that in order to enable the sound use of I-deals as a strategic HR tool, organizations should discuss I-deals and employability openly through constructive dialogue. Moreover, examples for achieving this through specific practices, such as working with employability coaches and world cafés on employability, are described.
Highlights
John worked in a call center of a public organization for several years and noticed that many callers asked the same questions over and over again
After theoretical outlines on the concepts of idiosyncratic deals (I-deals) and employability, we argue that I-deals can form the basis for integrative employment relationships aimed at employability enhancement
Similar results were found in a qualitative case study in the UK which showed that only 22% of employees in a public organization reported attempts to make an I-deal (Davis and Van der Heijden, 2018)
Summary
John worked in a call center of a public organization for several years and noticed that many callers asked the same questions over and over again. The sustainability of one’s career comprises a dynamic process, as both employees and their context are prone to changes over time, thereby making it urgent to regularly investigate the suitability of a specific set of I-deals across different career stages (see Demerouti et al, 2012) In this contribution, we build on existing research and attempt to explicate the importance of employability-enhancing I-deals as practical, widely accessible and effective means for meeting the above-mentioned challenges (Oostrom et al, 2016; Davis and Van der Heijden, 2018; Rofcanin et al, 2018; Van Vianen et al, 2019). The specific subjects covered by I-deals can vary widely, a main distinction between different types of I-deals might be the degree to which they either comfort people—i.e.,
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