Testing the link between psychological contract, innovative behavior and multidimensional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose The study investigates the impact of psychological contract breach on employees' innovative behavior and well-being (happiness, work engagement and mental well-being) who are working from home during this COVID-19 pandemic situation. Drawing on social information processing (SIP) and job-demand resource (JD-R) theory, job stress was proposed as a mediator explaining this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via a structured questionnaire through Google Docs from 258 respondents working at different capacity in Indian organizations. The study includes those respondents who are working from home during COVID-19 pandemic situation. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings Psychological contract breach was negatively impacting innovative behavior and well-being. Job stress mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and innovative behavior as well as well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic situation and especially for those who are working from home only. Research limitations/implications The data for the study were collected from the employees working from home during this COVID-19 pandemic situation was cross-sectional. The study implied or spoke about the unmet expectations leading to reduced innovative behavior harming the organization's effectiveness and it also reduces well-being which harms the individual in the era of social and financial uncertainty. Originality/value The novel contribution of the study is integrating SIP and JD-R theory during the pandemic situation. The results highlighted meticulous empirical evidence which answers the question that how the unmet expectations cause a detrimental effect on the employees as well as the organizations in this COVID-19 pandemic situation.