Organizational justice, conflict management and employee relations The mediating role of climate of trust

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational justice and conflict management on employee relations (ER) through the mediating role of climate of trust. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted with a sample of 331 employees working in a power transmission unit of Odisha. Data were collected by administering a structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling (AMOS 20). Findings The results reveal that climate of trust plays the role of a partial mediator between organizational justice and ER and conflict management and ER. Also, it was found that organizational justice, conflict management and climate of trust are the positive and significant predictors of ER. Research limitations/implications - The study was confined to a single state-owned power transmission unit of an Indian state, which restricts its generalizability. The research would benefit from exploration in alternative units. Practical implications - This scholarly work may encourage managers and decision makers to develop trust building climate by focusing on organizational justice and conflict management to flourish an environment of harmonious ER, furthermore to formulate effective strategies for cultivating facilitative work environment to enhance positive attitude among the employees to challenge future goals. Originality/value The research is exclusive in determining the influence of organizational justice and conflict management on ER through the mediator of climate of trust in the new perspective of the power sector that provides empirical evidence to the extant literature.