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Socialising employees’ trust in the organisation: an exploration of apprentices’ socialisation in two highly trusted companies
Author(s) -
Eberl Peter,
Clement Ute,
Möller Heidi
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
human resource management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.44
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1748-8583
pISSN - 0954-5395
DOI - 10.1111/1748-8583.12003
Subject(s) - apprenticeship , socialization , empowerment , german , qualitative research , public relations , process (computing) , business , psychology , knowledge management , sociology , social psychology , political science , social science , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , computer science , law , history , operating system
We present here our investigation into how corporate employers deliberately seek to foster and build employees’ trust in the organisation through socialisation tactics. Interestingly enough, such deliberate development of employees’ trust in the organisation has hitherto rarely been addressed in academic research. Using qualitative case study research methods, we have closely observed the trust socialisation process experienced by entrant employees, namely apprentices in two separate and highly trusted German companies. Our findings are consistent with former trust socialisation research in that they indicate the importance of high levels of perceived organisational support and of a convincing communication of organisational values and principles. However, our research emphasises further aspects of trust socialisation, such as psychological empowerment, the efficacy of formal organisational rules and especially sensegiving activities.