The unexpected side of relational e-HRM : Developing trust in the HR department

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the organizational redesign opportunities currently offered by web-based technological innovations contribute to rebuilding and strengthening the employee-HR department relationship, rendering personnel management policy criteria more transparent, increasing perceived fairness and thus helping to instil trust in the HR department, albeit in a diverse virtual context. Design/methodology/approach – The authors designed a survey involving 526 Gen Y employees and tested the hypotheses using structural equation modelling analyses. Findings – The results confirm a positive relationship between relational e-HRM system adoption, procedural justice and trust in the HR department. Research limitations/implications – The results provide evidence that technology can support the development of institutional trust in virtual environments and thus contribute to the growing e-HRM literature, to the more consolidated strategic HRM research domain and to the debate on trust in technology-mediated relationships. Practical implications – The paper provides valuable and at times unexpected results on the new potential role of the HR department in the current fluid and insecure labour market, thereby forming the basis for defining some useful guidelines to design and implement the e-HRM architecture. Originality/value – The paper focuses on understanding how relational e-HRM could impact on the direct employee-HR department relationship, from the Gen Y employees perspective, that is almost neglected in the growing literature. Moreover it suggests some unexpected insights on the role of technology innovativeness in moderating the impact of e-HRM on trust in the HR department.