Trust‐in‐supervisor and helping coworkers: moderating effect of perceived politics

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This study sought to examine the relationship between trust-in-supervisor and willingness to help coworkers as well as the moderating effect of perceptions of organizational politics on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach -A field survey using a structured questionnaire was used to gather data from 106 employees of a medium-sized company that had businesses in the manufacturing, travel, and education industries. Participation was voluntary and employees completed the questionnaire anonymously. Findings -Moderated multiple regression results indicated that trust-in-supervisor was positively related to employee willingness to help coworkers among employees perceiving low levels of organizational politics but not among those perceiving high levels of organizational politics.Research limitations/implications -The limitations of this study include reliance on cross-sectional data collected using self-reports from employees of a single organization. Future research should examine other forms of spontaneous workplace behaviors as outcomes of trust and identify other mitigating factors that may enhance or inhibit such behaviors. Future research also is needed to address the question of why trust predicts helping. Practical implications -Employers can realize the benefits of employee helpfulness stemming from supervisory trust only if they can establish a workplace that is not politically charged. Therefore, trust must be augmented with organizational interventions and strategies that discourage a high level of politicking. Originality/value -This study provides what is perhaps the first empirical test of the joint contribution of trust and perceptions of organizational politics on willingness to help. In addition, the findings of this study extend the organizational politics literature by showing that perceived politics might also act as a moderator of relationships.

Job Resources as a Mediator Between Management Trust Climate and Employees’ Well-Being: A Cross-Sectional Multilevel Approach

“…Hence, this supports the idea that employees' behaviour can be affected by their working environment (Lee & Idris, 2017). This is particularly important considering the fact that Malaysia is a collectivistic country where the environment exerts considerable influences on individuals (Poon, 2006).…”

“…A study by Kiffin-Petersen and Cordery (2003) of 218 employees in 40 teams, for example, discovered that working in a high-trust environment led employees to higher levels of teamwork since they became more aware of opportunities for their skills to be utilised. This finding is also consistent with the suggestion that when there is a higher level of trust, more resources are available and exchanged, thus benefitting employees (Jain, Sandhu, & Goh, 2015;Poon, 2006). How management trust enhances personal development can be explained using a model of group development in which the way supervisors and subordinates trust each other may lead to proper processes and structures for task completion (see Kozlowski, Gully, Nason, & Smith, 1999).…”

Organizational Justice and Citizenship Behavior, the Mediating Role of Trust

“…Trust is an important factor in the relationship between superiors and subordinates (McCauley and Kuhnert, 1992 (Poon, 2006). Some studies indicated a direct effect of organizational trust on OCB (Podsakoff, et al, 1990;McAllister, 1995).…”

Investigating the Links of Interpersonal Trust in Telecommunications Companies

“…A three-item measure was developed to evaluate trust in co-workers. It was based on an instrument used by Forret and Love [107] and Poon [119]. Trust in co-workers was assessed by having participants indicate their level of agreement with the following statements: "Most of my co-workers can be relied upon to do their work", "Most of my co-workers are trustworthy", "I have confidence in my co-workers".…”