Sociala relationer i dagligvaruhandeln : En kvalitativ studie om det sociala samspelet mellan mellanchefer och medarbetare och förtroende i relationen

Sammanfattning: The background to this study is the high employee turnover that prevails in the grocery retail. The personnel management in the organisation is considered to have the opportunity to influence the employee turnover and the possibility of influence varies depending on the position. A middle manager is the manager who works closest to the employees and can thus affect the employee turnover in different ways. For example, the middle manager can influence this by creating a group where everyone feels involved. In addition to this, there are a number of studies that show that the relationship with the immediate manager is of importance for whether or not the employee chooses to remain within the organisation. The social relationships between middle managers and employees are important for employees´ choices in remaining within the organisation. Furthermore, employeeship is mentioned as a prerequisite for the employee to not quit. Since a number of studies mention the importance of well–functioning social relations between employees and middle managers, the study's authors have chosen to apply the LMX theory in the study. The LMX theory concerns the purpose of the study–to create an understanding of how the social relationships between employees and middle managers can be shaped and developed to create trust in the grocery retail. The present study has a qualitative approach and the data collection consists of ten semi–structured interviews with both employees and middle managers in the grocery retail. The empirical study shows that the respondents are concerned about the social relationships and consider these as a prerequisite for the organization to function in a desirable way. The empirical material identifies a number of key concepts that contribute to the study's analysis. Some of the concepts that were brought up in the social relationships were respect, responsiveness, communication and feedback. During the interviews, a number of different factors were identified that are considered to lead to high–quality social relationships between employees and middle managers. The conclusions show the importance that both middle managers and employees show an interest in each other and the will to deepen their social relationships. It also appears that none of the parties can perform in a desirable way if there is a lack of well-functioning social relationships. The high–quality relationships are determined by the personal chemistry and commitment to deepen the relationship. Trust must exist between middle managers and employees for a well–functioning social interaction, regardless of the nature of the relationship to each other.