Does it Enhance Human Resource Management? A Narrative Approach to Trust Development in Work Relationships

The study focuses on trust in intra-organizational relationships as a basis for collaboration and organizational commitment and a means to enhance human resource management. More specifically, this study aims to explore the process of trust development and maintenance in intra-organizational, dyadic relationships within the Finnish organizational contexts. Trust is the main element of human and social capital and, in general, managers and leaders are responsible for building and sustaining trust to increase motivation and create a culture fostering learning and competence development. Although trust as a multidisciplinary issue has been widely studied recently in different fields of science, it remains a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. Different conceptualizations of the nature of trust exist (e.g. Mollering, 2006). According to prior research, the role of trust is crucial when generating social capital, job satisfaction, organizational behaviors and commitment, turnover and job performance within organizations (Lewicki, et al., 2006). The HRM practices play a significant role in these organizational processes. In this paper, theoretical framework draws upon Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) and the models of trust development (e.g. Lewikci & Bunker, 1996). The empirical study aims at describing how subordinates describe their experiences and perceptions of intra-organizational trust and trust breaches. In the empirical study, the data includes 65 stories collected by a method of empathy-based stories and analyzed by the analysis of narratives. The trust development process in work relationships appears rather sensitive (Ikonen & Savolainen, 2011), for example, "the dynamics of evil" may be unintentionally boosted. Interpersonal trust within organizations grows to develop as early as during the recruitment process. The orientation of a newcomer in organization is crucial for the further trust building in leader-follower relationships. The study suggests that interpersonal trust development process plays a role in HRM influencing organizational success through renewing of human capital. This emphasizes also the role of trust building as a leadership skill (Savolainen 2011). The practical implication is that the processes of building and maintaining trust require activeness of leaders and should be supported by the HRM practices of the organization.