Commentary

Do You Trust Your Employer?

Clinician Reviews. 2018 April;28(4):6-8

References

1. Tschannen-Moran M. Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; 2004.
2. Cummings LL, Bromley P. The organizational trust inventory (OTI): development and validation. In: Kramer R, Tyler E, eds. Trust in Organizations: Frontiers of Theory and Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1996:302, 330, 429.
3. Roueche JE, Baker GA, Rose RR, eds. Shared Vision: Transformational Leadership in American Community Colleges. Washington, DC: American Association of Community and Junior Colleges; 1989.
4. Henkin AB, Dee JR. The power of trust: teams and collective action in self-managed schools. J School Leadership. 2001;11(1):48-62.
5. Dervitsiotis KN. Building trust for excellence in performance and adaptation to change. Total Qual Manage Bus Excellence. 2006;17(7):795-810.
6. Costa AC, Roe RA, Taillieu T. Trust within teams: the relation with performance effectiveness. Eur J Work Org Psychol. 2001;10(3):225.
7. Kesler R, Perry C, Shay G. So they are resistant to change? Strategies for moving an immovable object. In: The Olympics of Leadership: Overcoming Obstacles, Balancing Skills, Taking Risks: Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the National Community College Chair Academy (5th, Phoenix, Arizona, February 14-17, 1996). Mesa, AZ: National Community College Chair Academy; 1996.
8. The Institute for Public Relations Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation, University of Florida. Guidelines for measuring trust in organizations. 2013. http://painepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Grunig-relationship-instrument.pdf. Accessed March 13, 2018.
9. Gleeson B. 7 ways leaders can improve trust within their organizations. Published June 24, 2015. Inc.com. www.inc.com/brent-gleeson/7-ways-leaders-can-improve-trust-within-their-organizations.html. Accessed March 13, 2018.

Organizational trust may require a broader and yet more focused definition—such as that of Cummings and Bromley, who stipulate that trust is a belief, held by an individual or groups of individuals, that another individual or group

Makes a good faith effort to behave in accordance with any (explicit or implicit) commitments
Is honest
Does not take excessive advantage of another, even when the opportunity to do so exists.²

Thus, organizational (or collective) trust refers to the propensity of workgroups, administrators, and employees to trust others within the organization.

But does it really matter if we experience this kind of trust for our employer? Can’t we just show up and do our jobs? Frankly, no (at least, if we truly care about the work that we do).

Research has demonstrated that trust is a critical part of creating a shared vision; employees tend to help one another and work collaboratively when trust is present.^3,4 Trust is also the foundation for flexibility and innovation.⁵Employees are generally happier, more satisfied, and less stressed in high-trust organizations—and it has been shown that organizations benefit, too.⁶

By contrast, low-trust organizations usually create barriers to effective performance. In the absence of trust, people create rules and restrictions that mandate how others should act.⁴ Valuable time is then spent studying, enforcing, discussing, and rewriting rules. This yields low-flexibility results and leaves employees to simply follow and enforce policies. Another outcome is high transaction costs and less efficient work—meaning that processes become slower and more restricted by policies and paperwork.⁴ Low trust is also a barrier to change.⁷

Although we recognize organizational trust as an essential component of effective leadership, it remains an issue—one that can make or break an organization’s culture. Lack of trust, particularly between management and employees, creates a hostile work environment in which stress levels are high and productivity is reduced.

Continue to: Three dimensions of trust

Do You Trust Your Employer?

References

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