Fronteering for Quality Service Delivery in The Health Sector: The Role of Interpersonal Trust and Work Engagement

Abstract

Scholars have established the antecedent role of interpersonal trust in enhancing quality of service delivery. But there is a dearth of knowledge regarding how work engagement explains the indirect relationshipbetween interpersonal trust and quality service delivery. The current study sought to establish mediating role of work engagement on the relationship between interpersonal trust and quality service delivery among health-based non-government organizations (NGOs). The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design and data was collected from a sample of 410 employees of NGOs in Uganda using questionnaire. The study employed the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique using partial least square (PLS) to test the hypotheses. The findings indicate a significant mediation role of work engagement in the relationship between interpersonal trust and quality service delivery. The findings further reveal that interpersonal trust both directly and indirectly influences the quality-of-service delivery through work engagement. NGOs in developing countries need to concentrate on building interpersonal trust among employees which leads to work engagement thus delivery of quality services. The current study shapes direction for practicing managers. Specifically, the study postulates that managers should leverage social factors like interpersonal trust to enhance quality of service delivery. The
study also provides evidence from NGOs in developing economies about the mediating role of work engagement in explaining the link between interpersonal trust and quality service delivery. The uniqueness with NGOs is a constraint of resources and more committed evaluation of intervention activities compared to other going concerns in the private for profit and public sector.

Key words: NGOs, Interpersonal trust, Work engagement, Quality service delivery