Abstract
Developmental idiosyncratic deals (I-deals) are widely regarded as strategic human resource tools for enhancing employee engagement, career development, and organisational retention rates. This study addresses a research gap by examining how professional women in Hong Kong voluntarily leave their organisations due to mismanagement of developmental I-deals.
Employing qualitative interpretive analysis based on 40 in-depth semi-structured interviews, the study comprehensively traces the negotiation trajectory from initial developmental requests to post-negotiation career decisions. Findings reveal a sequential process model comprising three interrelated stages: organisational mishandling, breach of psychological contract, and resignation trajectory. Organisational mishandling manifests primarily in four forms: direct rejection based on structural barriers; symbolic or hollow development commitments; partial or superficial approvals lacking substantive support; and punitive responses towards the initiator of the negotiation. These responses are not neutral administrative decisions but serve as potent career signals, conveying an implicit promotion ceiling.
Such mishandling amplifies the breach effect of psychological contracts. Respondents reported disillusionment, shattered trust, heightened awareness of structural inequity, and forced reassessment of career trajectories. Developmental ideal contracts, by their personalised and high-stakes nature, inherently foster heightened expectations of reciprocal exchange. When organisations fail to provide transparent and substantive fulfilment pathways, such breach experiences escalate into profound emotional trauma rather than ordinary disappointment.
Crucially, this study confirms that mishandled developmental I-deals inflict severe career disruption. These incidents do not breed gradual discontent but catalyse immediate, strategic career migration decisions. Participants respond through resignation, external promotion, cross-industry transition, or entrepreneurial self-employment.
This study deepens ideal contract theory by establishing a ‘negative pathway’ framework, expands psychological contract theory by empirically reinforcing the intense sense of betrayal triggered by personalised agreements, and advances turnover research by defining mishandled developmental ideal contracts as systemic career shocks. Findings caution organisations against relying on symbolic commitments or deferred fulfilment, highlighting the substantial retention risks inherent in poorly executed personalised development arrangements.