Unravelling the constituents of trust in the context of return to work: An exploratory study from the return-to-work coordinators’ perspective

Background Facilitating a worker's return to work (RTW) following disability helps to prevent prolonged disability. While stakeholder trust is crucial for RTW success, its constituents remain empirically underexplored. Objective This study aims to explore the constituents of trust from RTW coordinators’ perspective. Method We took inspiration from the critical incident technique and conducted exploratory interviews with RTW coordinators from the healthcare, insurance, and workplace sectors with at least three years of experience helping workers RTW following disability due to musculoskeletal or common mental disorders. Interviews were transcribed and underwent theory-informed deductive thematic analysis so inductive insights could emerge. Results Most of the eleven RTWCs interviewed were insurer representatives (n = 4) or workplace representatives (n = 5). Their narratives confirmed previously documented constituents of trust and revealed new subconstituents. Notably, serenity —a trustee characteristic—was determined to be an antecedent of trust alongside several contextual factors. Furthermore, the attribute risk of opportunism was refined to emphasize the trustor's perception of the risk, and willingness to act , previously a consequence of trust, was recategorized as an attribute. These findings suggest there exist other elements that could be leveraged to strengthen trust in RTW practices and highlight relational consequences that may influence organizational culture. Conclusion Since empirical analyses of trust constituents in RTW contexts are, to our knowledge, largely absent from the literature, this study provides an original contribution on this subject. Targeting antecedents of trust could help build trust and collaboration among stakeholders, thereby strategically strengthening these factors.