{"id":57890,"date":"2017-05-30T10:26:33","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T08:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/?post_type=news&#038;p=57890\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T12:28:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T10:28:30","slug":"lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_57948\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-57948\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-57948\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/EliseMarescaux.jpg\" alt=\"Elise Marescaux\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/EliseMarescaux.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/EliseMarescaux-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/EliseMarescaux-100x150.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-57948\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Elise Marescaux<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Based on an interview with Elise Marescaux and her article \u201cIdiosyncratic Deals from a Distributive Justice Perspective: Examining Co-Workers\u2019 Voice Behavior,\u201d coauthored with Sophie De Winne and Luc Sels (Journal of Business Ethics, January 2017)*.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Employees increasingly seek to negotiate arrangements with their employers that take into account their individual needs \u2014 for more flexible work hours, a reduced workload, more pay, special training, and so on. In response, how can companies balance flexibility and fairness?<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Biography<\/h3>\n<p>Since September 2015, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/enseignants-et-recherche\/enseignant\/?id=2279\">Elise Marescaux<\/a> has been an assistant professor in human resources management at I\u00c9SEG School of Management. She received a PhD in business economics from the University of Leuven, Belgium, in 2013. Her research focus is the differential treatment of employees in organizations.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Methodology<\/h3>\n<p>An online wage survey was published in two widely distributed Belgian employment magazines. 1,988 respondents were asked to imagine different scenarios wherein a colleague is granted more flexible work hours, a reduced workload, or a financial bonus. All respondents were randomly assigned to one of the various scenarios. Meanwhile, some were told that the colleague\u2019s work has a large impact on the work of the team as a whole, while others were told that the colleague\u2019s work has no impact. Finally, all respondents were asked if they would complain or request compensation after learning of their colleague\u2019s special arrangement.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Employees increasingly try to negotiate personalized work arrangements with their employers. This might mean a bonus, an opportunity to receive special training or more flexible work hours. Scholars refer to these nonstandard arrangements as idiosyncratic deals, or \u201ci-deals.\u201d Optimally, such deals are beneficial to both employee and employer, with the employee who receives the benefit becoming more motivated and committed to the job in response.<\/p>\n<p>However, little research has been conducted on the actual effects of these arrangements, hence this study by Marescaux and her coauthors. \u201cMore and more people want to be treated as different, as individuals with their own special needs, desires and expectations,\u201d said Marescaux. \u201cBut this can create jealousy, envy and conflict in the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>What happens when employees receive unequal treatment<\/strong><br \/>\nMarescaux and her coauthors examined coworker perceptions of different i-deals. They also explored coworker \u201cvoice behaviors,\u201d i.e., whether coworkers would complain (to their manager, other employees or upper management) or ask for some type of compensation for themselves in response to learning of the i-deals of others.<\/p>\n<p>Given that special deals inherently treat employees unequally, their study results are hardly surprising. The researchers found that, particularly when the work of employees is highly interdependent, employees are likely to find special arrangements unfair \u2014 and to complain about them. On the other hand, however, when they work more independently from each other, they find it easier to understand why, say, a high-performing salesperson deserves more money.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Financial rewards create most resentment<\/strong><br \/>\nMarescaux\u2019s study found that, in general, i-deals involving financial compensation were viewed to be the most unfair, followed by flexible hours, and then reduced workloads. The authors explain this by noting that a company was likely to grant nonfinancial benefits due to an employee\u2019s very individual need (a single mother who has to pick up her kids at a certain hour, a man who has to take care of his sick wife, and so on). Coworkers are more likely to understand such needs, whereas justifying financial rewards is more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers were surprised to find that a reduced workload was considered the most fair \u2014 more so than flexible hours \u2014 despite the fact that this would presumably give the rest of the team more work. The researchers suggest that a possible explanation for this is that reduced workloads are often granted to address health, stress or work-life balance issues, whereas flexible hours are often granted in response to simple planning issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Creating a fair \u2014 and transparent \u2014 work environment<\/strong><br \/>\n\u201cWhat\u2019s behind the results is that it\u2019s very important why a person gets an i-deal,\u201d Marescaux says. \u201cIf employees understand why it\u2019s necessary to give someone a specific deal, then they will be much more understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, she warned against trying to keep special arrangements under wraps. In any case, i-deal benefits such as a flexible schedule or special training would soon become obvious to fellow employees. \u201cSecrets don\u2019t stay secret,\u201d Marescaux says. As evidence, she cites the case of one Belgian manager who privately \u2014 and falsely \u2014 told various team members that they were earning more than their coworkers. \u201cIt blew up in his face. Everyone found out \u2026 and it led to huge distrust toward the manager.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Practical Applications<\/h3>\n<p>Marescaux advises that when managers offer an employee a special benefit, they should consider not only the effect on that employee but also on that individual\u2019s coworkers, especially when team members are highly dependent on one another in their daily work. \u201cWhen working in a team environment, giving people special deals is going to be a struggle,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Her suggestion for managers is to cede decision-making powers about special arrangements \u2014 such as flexible hours or a reduced workload \u2014 to the group. \u201cIf the team gets to decide, then the team will consider it more fair because they made the decision.\u201d In doing so, however, she concedes: \u201cyou lose your power as a manager, which is a tricky thing.\u201d Barring allowing the group to make the decision, Marescaux says that managers should:<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0Communicate to the team<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0Justify special arrangements as objectively as possible<br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0Find solutions to practical problems that the deal might create (such as coordination issues)<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10551-016-3400-7\">*\u201cIdiosyncratic Deals from a Distributive Justice Perspective: Examining Co-Workers\u2019 Voice Behavior,\u201d <\/a>Journal of Business Ethics (2017), Elise Marescaux (IESEG School of Management), Sophie De Winne (KU Leuven) &amp; Luc Sels (KU Leuven).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Based on an interview with Elise Marescaux and her article \u201cIdiosyncratic Deals from a Distributive Justice Perspective: Examining Co-Workers\u2019 Voice Behavior,\u201d coauthored with Sophie De Winne and Luc Sels (Journal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":57939,"menu_order":0,"template":"","news-category":[56,298],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment - I\u00c9SEG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Employees increasingly seek to negotiate arrangements with their employers that take into account their individual needs. In response, how can companies balance flexibility and fairness?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment - I\u00c9SEG\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Employees increasingly seek to negotiate arrangements with their employers that take into account their individual needs. In response, how can companies balance flexibility and fairness?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"I\u00c9SEG\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/IESEG-School-of-Management\/358733860458?fref=ts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-10T10:28:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/previewEN-portrait-EliseMarescaux.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"756\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"342\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IESEG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ieseg\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/edu\/school?id=12453\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/IESEGChannel\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/IESEG-School-of-Management\/358733860458?fref=ts\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IESEG\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/IESEG-Logo-2012-rgb.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/IESEG-Logo-2012-rgb.jpg\",\"width\":\"1000\",\"height\":\"311\",\"caption\":\"Ieseg\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/\",\"name\":\"I\u00c9SEG\",\"description\":\"School of Management\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/previewEN-portrait-EliseMarescaux.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/previewEN-portrait-EliseMarescaux.jpg\",\"width\":756,\"height\":342},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/\",\"name\":\"Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment - I\u00c9SEG\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-30T08:26:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-10T10:28:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"Employees increasingly seek to negotiate arrangements with their employers that take into account their individual needs. In response, how can companies balance flexibility and fairness?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"I\u00c9SEG\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Corporate Relations\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news-category\/corporate-relations\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment - I\u00c9SEG","description":"Employees increasingly seek to negotiate arrangements with their employers that take into account their individual needs. In response, how can companies balance flexibility and fairness?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment - I\u00c9SEG","og_description":"Employees increasingly seek to negotiate arrangements with their employers that take into account their individual needs. In response, how can companies balance flexibility and fairness?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/","og_site_name":"I\u00c9SEG","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/IESEG-School-of-Management\/358733860458?fref=ts","article_modified_time":"2025-09-10T10:28:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":756,"height":342,"url":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/previewEN-portrait-EliseMarescaux.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andrew Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@IESEG","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#organization","name":"Ieseg","url":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/edu\/school?id=12453","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/IESEGChannel","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/IESEG-School-of-Management\/358733860458?fref=ts","https:\/\/twitter.com\/IESEG"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/IESEG-Logo-2012-rgb.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/IESEG-Logo-2012-rgb.jpg","width":"1000","height":"311","caption":"Ieseg"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/","name":"I\u00c9SEG","description":"School of Management","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/previewEN-portrait-EliseMarescaux.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/previewEN-portrait-EliseMarescaux.jpg","width":756,"height":342},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/","name":"Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment - I\u00c9SEG","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2017-05-30T08:26:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-10T10:28:30+00:00","description":"Employees increasingly seek to negotiate arrangements with their employers that take into account their individual needs. In response, how can companies balance flexibility and fairness?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/lets-make-a-deal-when-employees-demand-special-treatment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"I\u00c9SEG","item":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Corporate Relations","item":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/news-category\/corporate-relations\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Let\u2019s make a deal: When employees demand special treatment"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/57890"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/57890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57955,"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/57890\/revisions\/57955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ieseg.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=57890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}