Key Findings from the Cases

In these cases, it seemed that employee trust or distrust towards the organization and leader developed as a result of appreciation or undervaluation of people by skilful or unskilful management, and authentic (democratic) or authoritarian leadership styles.

In company B, as an indication of the trustful atmosphere and a demonstration of trustworthiness, spontaneous sociality emerges between organization members. In company A, a distrustful atmosphere prevails, which hinders communication and interaction. Poor leadership underestimates employee competences. As a result, trust does not develop, and disputes and conflicts occur. Eventually, such situations show declines in employee and company performance.

Low leader trustworthiness in company A was associated with the development of subcultures. Employees did not trust managers, particularly the top management (i.e., the owner-manager). This manager lacked business knowledge and knowledge of the industry, and did not possess the necessary leadership and management skills. As a result, leader behaviour by top management was perceived as untrustworthy due to incompetence in business and leading people. This was reflected in the leader's actions, which aroused suspicions and mistrust among employees. Incompetence and unethical behaviour by the leadership of company A lead to emerging distrust in the organization. In the course of time, distrust permeated the organization and resulted in declining well-being and a low level of commitment to the organization.

An interesting finding in company A is that, despite the lack of trust, the employees were still confident with their own competencies and skills, but felt that the organization was not worthy of them. They still had faith in themselves and trust in a future outside the organization. It is also somewhat contradictory that people were highly confident with the continuity of work and felt physically well, despite evidently low levels of mental well-being. Trustworthiness and untrustworthiness of general managers is represented by the leadership style. In contrast to company A, the leadership style in company B is very democratic and participative, thus stimulating interactions and co-creation with employees. Internal communication is flowing and frequent; this is supported by the flat organizational structure. The structure also enables open communication and high morality in the treatment of co-workers.