Occupation Matters! A Multilevel Analysis of Organizational Trust in Professional Bureaucracies in the Healthcare Sector

Abstract

This study investigates in the healthcare sector how occupation influences the relationship between organizational procedural justice and employees’ trust in the supervisor and in the organization. Drawing on the dual hierarchy model in professional bureaucracies, we adopt a multi-level approach and pay close attention to the influence of the occupational group and its immediate organizational context. Our results from five healthcare organizations reveal that the relationship between organizational procedural justice and trust in the organization is mediated by employees’ trust in the supervisor for both health professionals and support staff. On the occupational group level, occupation type predicts organizational procedural justice and trust in the organization, but not trust in the supervisor. Based on these findings, we insist that communication between occupation groups deserves more attention for building trust in professional bureaucracies.