Abstract:

Employee trust in employers has become a key value nowadays, particularly in the context of shortages on the labor market and the growing importance of people and their impact on enterprises' success. Therefore, the article aims to identify, analyze, and diagnose employees' sense of trust towards the employer and its significant relation with enterprises' action for sustainable development. Quantitative and qualitative research was carried out based on a questionnaire survey among 449 employees of enterprises in Poland and India to verify the theses and hypotheses. The average level of trust of the surveyed employees towards the employer was found. Polish respondents have significantly lower confidence in the employer than employees from India. It was proved that the more sustainable development activities the enterprises introduce, the higher the trust employees have in the employers. Such activities comprise taking environmental and social issues into account when making key decisions, conducting employee volunteering, enabling employees to carry out charity projects during work, communicating and promoting dedication to sustainable development, both among employees and in the environment, supporting employees in striving for a balance between work and personal life, taking care to improve their working conditions, organizing the training on sustainable development and implementing good practices in this area in the company, and enabling employees to initiate and implement changes in the enterprise from the bottom up. The research findings may support the managerial staff responsible for human resource management. Besides, they may prove useful for implementing strategic plans related to sustainable development and social responsibility. They will allow for a better understanding of the existing relationships between employees' sense of trust in the employer and enterprises' sustainable development.