Exploring associations between employee empowerment and interpersonal trust in managers

Purpose To explore associations between employee empowerment and interpersonal trust in managers. Design/methodology/approach An online survey designed to assess empowerment and trust was administered to a random sample of 2,000 salaried employees at a Fortune 500 manufacturing organization in the USA. Findings Results, bounded by sample and focal organizational characteristics, indicated that employees who feel empowered in their work environment tend to have higher levels of interpersonal‐level trust in their managers. Practical implications Implications for managers are discussed in terms of enabling employee empowerment, strengthening interpersonal trust, and increasing organizational effectiveness. Originality/value Highlights how increments in empowerment and trust can mitigate effects of organizational complexity, reduce transaction costs, strengthen relational systems within flatter organizational structures, and diminish the need for supervisory oversight, unproductive controls, and measurement systems that negatively impact productivity and the capacity to succeed in highly competitive markets.