Employee Trust: Determinants and Consequences of Employee Perceptions of Organisational Trustworthiness

Employees’ trust in the organisation is important for organisational success. We study the consequences and determinants of employees’ trust perceptions, providing evidence both about the important outcomes trust influences and about the formation of trust perceptions.
Surveys show that perceptions of organisational trustworthiness increase job satisfaction and decrease turnover intentions, illustrating the important consequences of trust.
Further, we examine how employees form trust perceptions. Interview evidence reveals that perceptions of the organisation’s benevolence, integrity and ability influence trust perceptions. In addition, managers’ perceptions play an important role. When employees lack knowledge of the organisation’s mission, values and policies, they rely more heavily on their managers’ perceptions of the organisation’s trustworthiness to form their organisational trust perceptions.