A qualitative exploration of trust in the contemporary workplace

Objective: The Australian work environment is changing rapidly, as employees and leaders are becoming used to a blend between a virtual and face-to-face workplace. In this context, this research aimed to explore how leaders build and sustain trust in the contemporary workplace. Method: Critical incident technique was used in interviews with employees and a constructivist grounded theory approach via reflexive and coding thematic analysis was used to interpret the results. Thirty-eight participants were interviewed based on purposive sampling from virtual and face-to-face work environments and were asked about their experiences with trust in direct managers and senior leaders. Results: Employing an inductive approach, this research found an explicit behavioural component and an interpersonal relationship component, thus reinforcing organisational trust multidimensionality. The role of communication, exposure and relationships were highlighted as critical in virtual work environments, regardless of leader type. Conclusion: Using a qualitative research design enabled greater clarity of what constitutes organisational trust in the contemporary workplace. Implications for organisational trust theory are also discussed.