Perceived Employability,Task I-deals, and Work Outcomes: A Social Exchange Perspective

This study examined (i) whether and when perceived external employment opportunity drives obtainment of task i-deals and (ii) an expanded social exchange-based dual pathway through which task i-deals relate to the mutually beneficial work outcomes of creativity and life satisfaction. Multi-source and multi-wave data obtained from employees and their supervisors drawn from multiple organizations across diverse sectors were used to test our hypotheses. Our findings reveal perceived external employment opportunity to relate to obtainment of task i-deals. Second, the motivational pathway of gratitude towards the organization as well as the human capital pathway of perceived firm-specific human capital transmit the influence of task i-deals onto life satisfaction but only the firm-specific human capital pathway transmits the influence of task i-deals onto creativity. Lastly, the indirect influence of perceived external employment opportunity on these outcomes is conditional upon servant leadership such that these relationships are weaker when servant leadership is high rather than low.