THE SENSE OF TRUST IN ORGANIZATIONS

Defining the concept of “trust” is not easy and it has numerous definitions. Basically, it can be said that trust is one of the essential components of human relations. We can define it as “the confidence in or reliance on some quality or attribute of a person or thing, or the truth of a statement”. It is also a broad of expectations held by an individual or a group of people that the words, promises, statements in both verbal and written can be trusted and dependable. In both our social and business lives, the sense of trust is the first step of many other components such as commitment, success, and life or work satisfaction.

The sense of trust might be based on 3 sections.

→ The first one is trusting oneself, in other words, self-confidence. A person’s self-confidence is their belief that they can be successful as well as the belief of people in their abilities and strengths. It begins with self-acquaintance and knowing one’s own limits. If we know in which areas we are good at, our self-confidence will be much higher while we are working in that area.

→ The second basis is being trustworthy. Sometimes we may find ourselves questioning whether others are trustworthy but here we need to turn the arrows at ourselves. Putting oneself in the other’s shoes in a relationship and considering whether they will find you trustworthy is very valuable. Some of the components of trustworthiness are talking and behaving in a consistent way, keeping our promises, and being dependable.

→ Trusting others is the last but not the least basis of the sense of trust. It is basically shaped by the results of our past experiences. For example, it might be hard for a person who experienced an unexpected loss of trust in the past to trust someone today. The factors that affect us in trusting people might be sorted as expectations, characteristics of the others, possible risks, etc.

In the business context, another concept of trust is discussed which is “organizational trust”. It can be defined as the trust that the workers have in management and the reassurance of their colleagues’ ideas. After considering all three basics of trust, the question of why we are in need to trust in an organization arises.

Building a relationship based on trust in an organization ensures the emotional commitment of workers to the organization. Studies show that the stronger the trust is built, the more committed and satisfied workers an organization has. It means trusting in the work of both individuals and the teams makes us feel that we are working on a solid basis which increases our satisfaction with our work. Another point of why we need to trust is that it also increases our motivation. One’s motivation tends to be affected directly by any positive or negative experience of trust between the manager, organization, or co-workers. For example, let’s assume that you have a task to complete by the end of the week and divided the task with your co-workers in your own team. If you have reciprocal trust with the team members, you know that everyone will do their best to get the work done and it increases your level of motivation in turn. While already trying to meet our deadlines is stressful enough, working in distrust can be quite demotivating.

Research also suggests that producing new ideas and creative thinking is more possible and frequent in a work environment where both managers, the company, and the co-workers are trusted. Therefore, it has a direct impact on productivity of individuals, which is one of the essential components that keep a company alive. Being able to identify themselves within the organization is another point of organizational trust. Trusting the organization brings along self-confidence especially in the job description of the person and the work one does. Therefore, when the environment of trust is built successfully in an organization, it helps individuals to be more confident in what they do and increases the success rate of their work. Along with that, organizations that create high-level trust have more effective crisis management. Regular and healthy communication is one of the keys of maintaining trust and when the stakeholders of the company have that trust and communication skills, managing the moments of crisis can be more possible and smoother.

We know that trust can only be earned, not purchased. When it is earned by every stakeholder, it gives a company so many rewards from success to productivity. Building the sense of trust with all of its bases may take time but trust me, it is worth it.

References

Baltaş, A. (2014, May 26). Güven Duygusu Yaratmak. Makaleler. https://www.acarbaltas.com/category/yayinlar/makaleler/

Demircan, N. & Ceylan, A. (2003). Örgütsel Güven Kavram : Nedenleri ve Sonuçları. Yönetim ve Ekonomi, 10(2). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/yonveek/issue/13679/165524

Kalemci Tüzün, İ. (2007). Güven, Örgütsel Güven Ve Örgütsel Güven Modelleri. Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey Üniversitesi Sosyal Ve Ekonomik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2007(2), 93–118. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/kmusekad/issue/10223/125677

Otto, W. (n.d.). What is organizational trust (and how to build it)? Employee Engagement. https://www.predictiveindex.com/blog/what-is-organizational-trust-and-how-to-build-it/

Perry P. (2011). Concept analysis: confidence/self-confidence. Nurs Forum. 46(4), 218–30. 10.1111/j.1744–6198.2011.00230.x

Philips, J. & Edwards, L. (n.d.). Do You Know What Kind of Commitment They Have? https://enterpriseengagement.org/Do-You-Know-What-Kind-of-Commitment-They-Have/