Do High Levels of Trust between Management and Workers Lead to Better Performance - Literature review Example

DO HIGH LEVELS OF TRUST BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND WORKERS LEAD TO BETTER PERFORMANCE? by Student’s Name Code + Name of Course Institution City/State Professor Date Introduction Serva, Fuller, and Mayer (2005, p.625) explain that trust between management and employees is an important factor in any organization in today’s highly competitive markets. In an organization, trust amid the management and workers do not only enhance individual employee performance but also enhances organizational performance and improve corporate image (Schoorman, Mayer, & Davis 2007, p.344; Harrison, Newman, & Roth 2006, p.306). Many researchers on this topic have come up with findings that maintain the argument that, adequate trust between managers and subordinates leads to better performance. According to Dirks and Ferrin (2001, p. 450), when employees feel trusted by their managers, they remain committed to achieving the set organizational goals, leading to improved performance. When there is trust between managers and workers, the workers are more likely to embrace the proposed organizational behaviors and the code of conduct making it easy for the organization to achieve its set goals and objectives (Dirks & Ferrin 2001, p. 452). The paper focuses on reviewing the past researches that have been conducted in relation to better performance resulting from adequate trust between management and subordinates. The paper will also discuss the implications of the literature review and present some recommendations for future researches on the same topic. Literature Review Healthy cooperative relationships highly depend on trust between management and employees. A study carried out by Gill, Boies, Finegan and McNally back in 2005 indicate that the existence of trust between the management and employees helps in creating good relations within an organization hence leading to improved performance. The three authors argue that for any good relations to be established between the employees and the management, first there should be high level of trust between the two. Dirks and Ferrin, (2001, p. 455) supports Gill, Boies, Finegan and McNally argument by pointing out trust amid supervisors and their junior employees is the main determinant of both individual and organizational performance. According to Dirks and Ferrin (2001, p.454), many past studies have only defocused on the importance of trust in managers and have overlooked the significance of trusts between managers and other employees within an organization. Dirks and Ferrin (2001) argue that high level of trusts between employees and managers enhances corporate image since employees embrace the set organizational behavior, beliefs, and practices and remain focused on improving the corporate image of their organization. Colquitt, Scott, and LePine, carried out a study in 2007 to test the relationship that exists between high performance and trust. The findings of their study established that high level of trust in managers helps them build strong and healthy relations with their subordinates. This does not only increase employee productivity, but also leads to improved overall organizational performance. The study by Colquitt and others also established that it is important for managers to cultivate trust between themselves and their subordinates since it helps them win their support. According to Lester and Brower (2003, p.18), for any organization to implement change successfully, the change must be supported by all the employees within the organization. This means that trust between managers and employees is vital for effective change implementation. When employees have trust in their management team, they embrace changes and innovation which are necessary to move the organization to the next step since they believe that the changes will work to their individual benefits and at the same time benefit the organization at large. In a recent study, Colquitt et al (2007) investigated the influence of trust between employees and managers on task performance and counterproductive behavior. The study revealed that employees who had trust in their managers engaged in behaviors that led to improved task performance. According to Colquitt and others, when employees trust their seniors, they focus on making them happy by engaging in the desired behaviors and practices which lead to enhanced task performance. Colquitt et al (2007, p. 67) explain that high level of trust between managers eliminates counterproductive behavior such as; opposing change, resignation, failure to adopt the desired behavior to mention but a few. The researchers concluded that there is a significance relationship between high levels of trust between management and workers and high performance and diminished counterproductive behavior. Butler (1999, p.217), explain that social exchange theory is a helpful framework for understanding the relationship between trust and performance. Butler explain that social exchange theory propose that when there is trust between employees and their managers, there is effective communication and healthy social relationship that enhances organizational performance. Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005, p.875) explain that social exchange theory propose that when managers trust their employees, the employees feel obligated to reciprocate the love. Building trust with subordinates help managers in winning their support and this makes it easy for the organization to achieve its mission (Dirks & Ferrin 2001, p. 458). Butler (1991) argues that it is important for the management team to ensure that there is trust between them and their subordinated to guarantee their continued support and commitments in the organization’s mission. On the other hand, employers who lack trust in their managers are less likely to remain committed towards steering the organization achieving its mission since they lack positive expectations and sense of responsibility. Dirks and others (2001) explain further that lack of trust between managers and employees compromise employees’ job performance since they have the fears of putting extra effort and be taken advantage of by their dishonest managers. When employees do not trust their managers, they remain less focused and committed to perform beyond what is required of them. It is however important to point out that Butler’s argument is biased. However, to back up his arguments and make it reliable for the topic under review, he has used several other researches done on the same topic. Malhotra and Murnighan (2002, p.535), argue that little research has been carried out to examine the importance of trust between managers and employees. According to these two researchers, many successful managers in our contemporary institutions have high level of trust between them and their subordinates. Malhotra and Murnighan (2002) argue that trust between employees and their managers lead to improved productivity and social responsibility. The two authors explain that trust between employees and managers make it possible for organizations to build a positive corporate image since the employees feel obligated in making their organization successful. Pierce and Gardner (2004, p.592) carried out a study to establish the impact of manager’s trust on their employees’ performance. The study findings indicated that a manager’s trust in their junior employees influences the way they treat them and hence positively affect their behavior. For instance, managers are at ease with the employees they trust, which makes employees respond by becoming motivated toward engaging in behaviors and practices that will make their managers happy (Seibert, et al 2004, p. 332). Mayer and Gavin (2005, p.880) supports Seibert’s argument by stating that managers who have trust in their employees are willing to take higher risks with them by elevating important tasks to them such as involving them in the decision making process. A study carried out by Dirks and Ferrin in 2002 revealed that successful leaders trust their subordinates to an extent that they involve them in decision-making process. Involving employees in decision making process does not only influence them to trust their managers but also helps them remain committed in achieving the set organization goals and objective since they identify with them. On the other hand, employees who trust their managers have higher confidence in them and are willing to give out their best in order to help them achieve them the set organizational goals and objectives. Mayer and Gavin, (2005, p881) employees who have trust in their managers develop high level of competency since they are involved in executing complex tasks. Competent employees are highly productive and are able to steer their organizations towards achieving their set goals and objectives. Mayer and Gavin (2005, p.882) recommend that managers should instead of closely monitoring the employees who they do not trust, involve them in important tasks such as management in order ,make them have trust in them. Seibert, et al (2004, p. 334) support Mayer and Gavin’s (2005) argument by stating that when employees are empowered by their managers, they have an enriched experience and are motivated to become more productive and develop the desired organizational behavior. Cole and Flint (2005, p.58) explain that when workers feel that they are trusted by their seniors, they remain attached to the organization and focus on ensuring that the organization achieves its organizational goals. Conclusion It is evident that several researches have been conducted to support the argument that managers’ trust in their subordinates leads to improved performance. Many researchers on this topic have come up with findings which support the argument that managers who trust their employees enhances their individual productivity and hence steer the organization towards achieving higher performance. Several researchers agree that there it is important that managers build trust between them and their junior employees so as to win their support. The literature review has provided enough evidence which supports the paper’s argument that high level of trust between managers and employees leads to improved performance. It can therefore be concluded that high level of trust between managers and their employees leads to improved individual employee performance which in turn leads to improved overall organizational performance. Recommendations It is clear evidence that high level of trust between employees and their managers leads to improved performance; there is need for further research to validate this argument. As the reviewed literature indicates, many past researchers on this topic have focused on establishing the impact of managers’ trust in their junior employees on individual employee performance. There is therefore the need for research to do more research to establish the impact of high level of trust between managers and their subordinates on the overall organizational performance. The research to establish this relationship is necessary as it will be of great importance for ensuring managers adopt effective management practices which lead to improved organizational performance. Reference List Butler, J. K 1999, ‘Trust expectations, information sharing, climate of trust, and negotiation effectiveness and efficiency’, Group and Organization Management, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 217-239 Cole, N. D & Flint, D. H 2005, ‘Opportunity knocks: Perceptions of fairness in employee benefits’, Compensation & Benefits Review, vol. 37, pp. 55-62. Colquitt, J. A, Scott, B. A, & LePine, J. A 2007, ‘Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propensity: A meta-analytic test of their unique relationships’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 92, no. 4, pp. 909-927 Cropanzano, R & Mitchell, M. 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A 2004, ‘Taking empowerment to the next level: A multiple-level model of empowerment, performance, and satisfaction’, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 47, pp. 332-349. Serva, M. A, Fuller, M. A & Mayer, R. C 2005, ‘The reciprocal nature of trust: a longitudinal study of interacting teams’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 26, pp. 625-648. Read More