Employees’ Individual Needs and their Relationship to Idiosyncratic Deals: A Latent Profile Analysis

Abstract

Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) are personalized arrangements negotiated between individual employees and their employers. Whereas research has shown that i-deals positively relate to a wide array of employee attitudes and behaviors, comparatively little is known about the individual-level antecedents of i-deals. Building on the concept of needs-supplies fit, this study addresses this research gap by investigating the role of individual needs, as conceptualized by McClelland (1987), in the negotiation of i-deals. We adopt a person-centered approach that considers the interplay of the individual needs for achievement, power, affiliation, and autonomy. Using latent profile analysis in a sample of 164 employees (study 1), we explore qualitatively and quantitatively distinct profiles of individual needs. In another sample of 553 employees from various organizations (study 2), we test the replicability of the profiles and analyze differences in successful i-deal negotiation among the profiles. Our results show that four of the profiles from study 1 could be replicated in study 2. While in study 1, one profile is identified that is characterized by an extremely high need for autonomy, study 2 identifies two profiles that are characterized by a high need for autonomy. The results also reveal that employees’ membership in profiles of individual needs predicts the successful negotiation of various types of i-deals. This study provides a nuanced understanding of the relationship between individual needs and i-deals.