The link between congruent HRM frames and employees' trust in the HRM system. An explorative study at Royal Philips Netherlands.

This explorative case study explored the link between congruent HRM frames of line managers and HR professionals and employees' trust in the HRM system. The case study was performed at one of the business sites of Royal Philips Netherlands. Philips' e-HRM system; the HR Portal was subject of study. A mixed-method approach was used to study the phenomenon from several perspectives. Interviews with HR professionals and line managers were conducted to reflect on their perspectives about the e-HRM system in four dimensions; HRM-as-composed, HRM-as-intended, HRM-in-use and HRM integration. A survey was distributed to the employees to measure the level of trust in the e-HRM system. Frames of HR professionals and line managers were on 88.9% of the topics congruent. Trust in the e-HRM system was indicated as confident trust. Findings suggest that there is a possible positive link between congruent HRM frames and employees’ trust in the system. Results also show that this relationship is more complex. For example, frames of HR professionals showed higher congruence than frames of line managers. Results show that Philips’ should focus on managing accessibility, HR guidelines and HR responsibilities, and managing flexibility, in order to increase congruence in frames.