Trust in public-sector senior management

Abstract

Trust is widely regarded as an important ingredient of organizational effectiveness. Although there is accumulating empirical evidence supporting the important role of trust in organizational contexts, there is limited empirical evidence that focuses on the nature, determinants and influence of trust in senior management. This is particularly true in the public-sector environment. In this paper, based on a review of the literature, we propose a model that identifies key antecedents and consequences of trust in public-sector senior management. We used data collected from two public-sector organizations to identify levels of trust and correlates of trust in senior management. We also conducted a series of regression analyses to identify more clearly the extent to which each of the antecedents influenced trust in senior management and the extent to which trust in senior management influenced each of the consequences. The results suggest that effective organizational communication, procedural justice, organizational support and satisfaction with job security predict trust in public-sector senior management. The results also show that trust in senior management influences affective commitment, continuance commitment, cynicism towards change and turnover intention. Evidence was presented which suggests that trust partially, rather than fully, mediates the relationships between the antecedents of trust and the consequences of trust. In general terms, the findings will prove helpful to human resource practitioners interested in diagnosing and managing trust in public-sector organizations.