Week 8: Trust in Organizations

Moreland and Levine

I think this article was a good read to see how trust works in different circumstances. The model that is included also gives a good idea of how trust changes over time. I can relate to how this model works to when I worked for the Chicago Park District during the summer while I was in high school. Since I was a seasonal worker I didn’t know or trust the other employees as much as the returning employees did. In reference to Moreland and Levine I had social ties to the specific park I was employed at. Two my aunts work for the Park District so they knew the supervisor at the park who eventually hired me. I agree with a point that Moreland and Levine make that leaders of a group may trust a new worker if they have relationships with the same people. Because my aunts were friends with the supervisor I think it was easier for me to trust and open up to the group. My supervisor trusted me from the first day I started because she trusted in my aunts that I was a hard worker. While I got along well with my supervisor it took a little more time for my coworkers to trust. They had been working at the park for a while now and didn’t know if I could do the job well enough. I would say after about the first two weeks we all started to trust each other more because we were able to see how each performed on a day to day basis. After I was accepted by the group it was much easier to trust them and work with them. I think seasoned workers come to trust newcomers by actually seeing them do what their asked and succeeding. After the group knows the newcomer is capable of willing to do their part that is when trust will be given.

The episode of Scrubs that was assigned shows how everyone in the group has to do their part in order for everything to work out. In the episode Kelso determines that he needs to make some budget cuts so he’ll probably have to fire someone. In this case all the employees at the hospital trust the finance department to make smart decisions so things like this wont happen. Unfortunately this isn’t always true and trust is lost. When the hospital has to fire some employees it is never a good thing. In this case the employees at the hospital lost trust in the management of the hospital. The cafeteria workers especially lost their trust because they were the first group of people the hospital looked at for budget cuts. The hospital figured it is better to fire someone from the cafeteria rather than the medical staff. This is an unfortunate thing when it has to happen because people rely on these jobs for money. In this case I think too much trust is a bad thing. If the cafeteria staff and the medical staff knew that the hospital was having budget problems then maybe something could have been sooner. The group needs to trust in each other to not keep things like this a secret. I think if the medical staff and the cafeteria workers have always done their jobs right then the hospital should have kept the finances in check.

I included this visual because I think these 5 steps are important in receiving and giving trust. Personally, when I know people are trusting in me to get something done I make sure I do my best. I also believe when trust is given a good employee will get the job done because they know someone or a group is relying them. I think step 2 is important because once you prove to be trustful the relationship with the group is much better. By setting this example you can help the organization get to a trusting workplace.