International Journal for Tourism and Technology (IJTT)
This paper focused on leadership trust and employee task performance. Mutually, both the organization and the employees have contractual obligations binding each party in an organization. While employees execute their jobs, they inevitably has the trust that the organization will fulfill their part of the job agreement. Thus, this study is an attempt to assess leadership trust and employee task performance. The main objective of this study is to assess leadership trust and employee task performance. Specifically, the objectives of the study are: to understand the concept of leadership trust; and to identify how leadership trust affects employee task performance from previous studies. Extant literature on the subject was reviewed accordingly. On the grounds of the previous studies reviewed, it was concluded that not most employees do not trust their leaders since they do not fulfill their employment agreements; and lack of leadership trust affects employees by returning poor performances on assigned tasks. It was recommended that organizations should invest in leadership development programs that emphasize the importance of trust and also, organizations should recognize that high levels of leadership trust lead to improved employee task performance
Corporate organizations are composed of employees who work across various functional units. Through activities such as planning, organizing, controlling, and directing, these employees ensure that corporate objectives are achieved both effectively and efficiently (Umoh et al., 2014; Okafor & Onuoha, 2022). Additionally, employees manage work interdependency among themselves, taking into account the limited organizational resources. These efforts contribute to enhancing both employee and organizational performance. In the 21st-century business landscape, management literature has extensively explored ways to improve employee performance. This has led to a multitude of studies, both theoretical and empirical, aimed at identifying strategies for enhancing employee performance. Notable studies include those by Lewicki et al. (1998) and Hommer (1995), among others. Despite
being conducted in different settings, these studies consistently demonstrate that employees' task performance can be improved through leadership trust. Since then, the concept of leadership trust—its meaning, antecedents, and potential effects on employees' task performance—has been a significant focus of research. Though the emphasis on the concept of trust has shifted due to debates on vulnerability (Mishra, 1996; Adeoye & Elegunde, 2022), efforts have been made to provide a formal definition. Lewicki et al. (1998) describe trust as confident expectations regarding another's conduct. Eze and Amadi (2023) and Homer (1995) define it as one party's optimistic expectations about another's behavior when the party must decide how to act under conditions of vulnerability and dependence.
Employees’ task performance refers to the outcome or contribution of employees towards
achieving organizational goals (Herbert et al., 2000; Adediran & Afolabi, 2023). From an efficiency and effectiveness perspective, Stoner (1996) contends that employee performance, measured by these criteria, involves the ability to produce desired outcomes using minimal resources and the ability to meet desired objectives or targets. Foot and Hook (2008) define employees’ performance as the ability to contribute to the firm's performance, coupled with the means and incentives to do so. This implies that employees’ performance cannot improve without adequate incentives, such as training and development, which are necessary to address weaknesses and acquire required skills, ultimately leading to improved performance (Mbithe, 2012). In management studies, employees’ performance can be
measured using variables such as quality of output, timeliness of output, presence/attendance
on the job, efficiency of work completed, service quality, effectiveness of work completed, and employee behavior (Armstrong, 2001; Yusuf & Bello, 2021).
Trust, Leadership Trust, Employee task performance, Group Cohesion theory, Extraversion-Introversion Personality Theory