From Technology to Trust: Examining the Moderating Influence of Leadership Integrity on the E-HRM and Public Trust Relationship in Housing Societies

Abstract

The residential real estate industry in Pakistan, which is an urgent source of urban growth, is experiencing a massive widespread of unfamiliarity in the eyes of the populace due to the extensive misapplication of unethical behavior, monetary transparency and political misconducts. This paper was examined how Electronic Human Resource Management (E-HRM) practices can rebuild the trust of the people with a particular interest on the conditional role of Leadership Integrity. The quantitative, cross-sectional research design was used and the data was collected using stratified random sampling, which comprised of 528 employees and clients of housing authorities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi using structured questionnaires. Regression and moderation analysis in SPSS was used to analyze the data. The findings show that E-HRM practices and public trust have a positive and significant correlation (b= 0.65, p 0.001), which proves that when HR functions are digitalized, it leads to an increase in perceived transparency and procedural justice. Moreover, the Leadership Integrity was also a major positive moderator ( Interaction 0.15, p < 0.001) meaning that the positive impact of E-HRM on trust is much greater when organizational leaders are characterized by high ethical commitment and consistency in behavior. This paper concluded that though E-HRM offers the technological base on which transparency is possible, Leadership Integrity is the driving force that offers credibility to said systems and enhances their potential to build trust. The results provide the essential knowledge to policy makers and managers of the housing society that should adopt a comprehensive approach, which would involve both investing in technology and leadership founded on ethical values that would help Pakistan reestablish the lost trust of the population in the real estate industry.