Most often people think that what makes an organization suitable is its great benefits paid to its employees and its corporate reputation. However, one of the most common and critical assets neglected is the organization’s morale and work culture, which both play a key indicator in employees’ turnover rate. Studies have shown that organizations with a higher level of trust have increased employee morale, more productive workers, and lower stuff turnover (Wichtner-Zoia, 2014). In fact, when an organization encourages successful communication and trust-building practices, employees are more successful in their jobs while increasing efficiencies at their respected organizations.
Trust has been conceptualized as ‘a psychological state comprising of the intention to accept vulnerability based upon positive expectations of the intentions or behavior of another’ (Muchiri, McMurray, Nkhoma, Pham, 2019). When communicating with his or her team members, a trusted leader can gain the buy in of its fellow employees to prevent workplace hazards. Leadership conduct that is portrayed by trust, communication, acknowledgment, and criticism could also improve the prosperity of its employees. Transformational leaders successfully convey their security needs, which thus emphatically impact employee perception of priority of safety, and employee impression of safety atmosphere and employee safety conduct.
Work in organizational settings relies on cooperation, shared responsibilities, and trust. However, in regards to communication and negotiations, interpersonal conflict is inherent in organizations (Clelland & Zaraankin, 2012). If handled correctly with transparency and trust, it can be positively managed. But in contrast, if there is no corporation or communication it typically can lead to the situation being handled negatively. For instance, members approach negotiations with a standard of trust in their organization. This then impacts their underlying dimension of cooperativeness and assertiveness while participating in interpersonal negotiations, meaning that they are more open to communication and understanding the matter at hand. This also increases the measure of trust these members see toward their peers.
A study conducted research on 144 working adults from a variety of organizations through students from a mid-Atlantic university to examine the relations between employee perceptions of organizational trust and employee antisocial organizational behavior. Participants’ ages ranged from 20 to 67 years. Participants were to recall the most recent performance evaluation they received from a superior about a job or assignment that they had recently completed or completing and to use the following scales to describe how they felt about that evaluation and their superior: unfair/fair, unjust/just, biased/neutral, unjustified/justified, and unwarranted/warranted (Chory & Hubbell, 2008). Results demonstrated that often times there might be miscommunication when receiving feedback from a non-trusted superior. However, in contrast, the same performance appraisals can be seen as fair from a trusted superior. This research demonstrates that trust is crucial to high- functioning organizations and is key to understanding the human communication processes operating in such organizations.
In researching 566 participants recruited by United Sample Company, it was identified that there are 2 types of transparency: (a) an organization’s reputation for transparency and (b) its efforts to communicate transparently (Auger, 2014). The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of transparency on trust and positive behavioral intentions of stakeholders. Based on research, the operational definition used for organizational transparency is an organization’s reputation for characteristics of organizational integrity, respect for stakeholders, and openness of communication (Auger, 2014). It is to be concluded that organizations showing the two kinds of transparency accomplished more than double than organizations that exhibited neither sort of transparency.
To conclude, I consider trust, in relation to communication, to be an important aspect of organizational behavior. Organizations with high levels of trust tend to produce high quality products and services because they can recruit and retain highly motivated employees. They are also able to effectively communicate to be more efficient, while being transparent because they trusting employer-employee relationships. In sum, what I have noted is the level of trust within an organization and the mode of delegation of tasks to be performed coincides with efficient communication and the perception of the organization to the employee.
Works Cited
- Auger, G. A. (2014). Trust Me, Trust Me Not: An Experimental Analysis of the Effect of Transparency on Organizations. Journal of Public Relations Research,26(4), 325-343. doi:10.1080/1062726x.2014.908722
- Bhardwaj, R. (2016, February 03). Why it’s Important to Build a Good Work Culture. Retrieved January 22, 2019, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270338
- Chory, R. M., & Hubbell, A. P. (2008). Organizational Justice and Managerial Trust as Predictors of Antisocial Employee Responses. Communication Quarterly,56(4), 357-375. doi:10.1080/01463370802448121
- Clelland, I. J., & Zarankin, T. G. (2012). Towards a Dynamic Model of Interpersonal Trust: The Role of Communicative Action in Workflow Negotiation. International Journal of Strategic Communication,6(1), 109-125. doi:10.1080/1553118x.2011.634865
- Muchiri, M. K., Mcmurray, A. J., Nkhoma, M., & Pham, H. C. (2019). How Transformational and Empowering Leader Behaviors Enhance Workplace Safety: A Review and Research Agenda. The Journal of Developing Areas,53(1), 257-265. doi:10.1353/jda.2019.0015
- Yvonne, & Bonnie. (2018, September 20). Understanding the role of trust in successful work environments. Retrieved January 22, 2019, from https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/understanding_the_importance_of_trust_in_the_workplace
