LINKING E-HRM TO PUBLIC TRUST: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ETHICAL CLIMATE IN PAKISTANI HOUSING AUTHORITIES

Abstract

In a time of growing publicity, building trust in the institutions of residents, especially within the housing sector of the developing economies such as Pakistan, is a paramount issue of governance. This paper examines the association between the Electronic Human Resource Management (E-HRM) practices and public trust on housing authorities in both twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It also examined the mediating process of ethical climate. The response was a structured questionnaire in which data were gathered on 528 employees and clients of housing authorities. The findings of the regression model, with the proved that E-HRM practices and public trust have a significant positive relationship. Moreover, mediation analysis revealed that the ethical climate is a strong partial mediator between E-HRM and public trust. The results suggest that the adoption of E-HRM systems not only increases the level of trust by providing a direct level of efficiency but indirectly by fostering an internal climate of transparency, meritocracy, and integrity, which in turn is projected onto the public. This research provides useful advice to the administrators of the Pakistani public sector and enriches theoretical frameworks of digitalization of the public sector by explaining one of the psychological processes the ethical climate, where technological HR reforms are converted to increased citizen confidence.