Enabling trust through digital leadership practises - A qualitative study on employee’s perception of leadership trust in a digital work environment

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to further investigate how leaders can enable trust in a digital work environment, by looking at what digital leadership practice’s employees perceive as trust building. Theory: The actor network theory was used to conceptualize the social processes in which people build relationships, communicate, and collaborate when incorporating advanced information technologies. The theory of modernity was used to provide insight for how trust is created and dynamically affected by the influences of a digital work environment. Method: A qualitative research design was applied to investigate the purpose of the study, contingent on 19 semi-structured interviews. Respondents were white-collar employees found in one single case company and had digital leaders that worked partly or fully remotely. Result: The study findings suggest how trust is dependent and closely tied to social interactions, where several practices have shown to be beneficial in the creation of leadership trust. Along with the importance of creating beneficial environment for leader to enable trust creation. Being the importance of the informal context, to form and build professional relationships, and having time and space to communicate with one´s leader.