Trust is critical to combating the crisis
Guzzo and her co-authors study how managers’ messages can influence hospitality employees’ emotions. This consequently affects their trust in organizations when facing COVID-19.
“Organizational trust determines employees’ commitment, engagement and even performance,” Guzzo said. “It takes time and effort to build trust between employees and organizations. That trust is at risk of breaching when both interact.”
Employees’ trust depends on the steps an organization takes to combat negative effects.
This includes choosing whether to follow social norms. It also involves inferring organizational support versus stating it, Guzzo shares.
Evidence leads to enhancements
Guzzo’s experimental study is one of the first to investigate the impact of a crisis on employees’ emotional responses.