Idiosyncratic deal seeking for personal brand verification

Purpose - Grounded in social learning theory and conservation of resources theory, this study examines the link between witnessing co-workers’ idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) and task crafting, task crafting and task i-deals negotiation; and the route that employees take to build their perceptions of personal brand equity. Design/methodology/approach - A time-lagged survey was used to collect data from 259 information technology (IT) and consulting professionals in India. Hypotheses were tested using PROCESS MACRO inR. Findings - Results show that witnessing co-workers’ i-deals is positively associated with both task crafting and task i-deals negotiation; and task i-deals negotiation is positively associated with employees’ personal brand equity. Findings also show that task crafting mediates the positive impact of witnessing co-workers’ i-deals on task i-deals negotiation. Further, the study shows that need for legitimization of task customizations moderates the positive relationship between task crafting and task i-deals negotiation, in such a manner that the relationship is stronger when employees’ need for legitimization is low, and it is insignificant when their need for legitimization is high. Originality/value - This is one of the earliest studies that examine the relationship between task crafting and task i-deals negotiation; and shows that employees negotiate task i-deals to build their personal brand equity.