Managerial trustworthiness and social exchange with the organization

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how managerial trustworthiness and social exchange with the organization integrate with perceived organizational support to relate to supervisor‐rated job performance and self‐report organizational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 119 full‐time employees from a variety of occupations at a single organization completed surveys. Their supervisor rated job performance.

Findings

This paper finds that managerial trustworthiness was positively related to job performance and organizational commitment via POS and social exchange with the organization; and that POS was related to organizational commitment through social exchange with the organization.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include cross‐sectional data from a single organization. Strengths include non self‐report ratings of job performance. Future research should consider experimental and longitudinal designs to capture causality.

Practical implications

Organizations may improve job performance and organizational commitment by increasing the trustworthiness of the manager, which might lead to increases in perceived support and social exchange. Trustworthiness can be increased by incorporating policies to encourage the integrity of managers, increasing managers' ability via training, and fostering a climate of benevolence.

Originality/value

This study is the first to examine the trustworthiness of the manager, a central figure to employees, at the same time as support and social exchange in the employee‐organization relationship.

Citation

Byrne, Z., Pitts, V., Chiaburu, D. and Steiner, Z. (2011), "Managerial trustworthiness and social exchange with the organization", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 108-122. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683941111102155