Employee trust-repair practices: scale development and validation

PurposeIn this paper, the authors describe the step-by-step approach used to develop a trust-repair construct and a valid measurement scale for assessing employee perceptions of the most effective employee trust-repair practices.Design/methodology/approachThe initial employee trust-repair scale (ETRS) was completed by 282 employees of a non-profit organization and validated by 101 employees of the administrative unit of the Finnish Army.FindingsThe 14-item seven-factor model was found to be reliable, valid and stable across the samples.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the current literature on trust repair by presenting the first validated measure for employee trust repair.Practical implicationsThe findings provide a valuable instrument for practitioners to assess the state of employee trust-repair practices.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in an organizational context demonstrating an operationally valid and comprehensive measure for employee trust-repair practices.