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Creating a Trusting Culture within and Organization
Any relationship without trust will not function properly, but workplace relationships
especially need to have trust in order for the organization to run properly. As stated in the fifth
chapter of Problematic Relationships in the Workplace, “trust predicts both job satisfaction and
perceptions of organizational effectiveness, and conversely, low levels of organizational trust are
linked to a variety of negative consequences including lost productivity, inefficiency, reduced
profits, damaged social identities, and diminished effectiveness” (Davenport and Gill 85).
Personally, I have seen how trust within an organization can greatly change the culture of that
organization and I have also experienced how mistrust can affect employees. After analyzing
what organizational trust is and the problems betrayal of trust can cause within an organization, I
will be providing a solution to creating and maintaining a trusting culture within the
organization.
Background
Organizational trust is becoming more recognized, and more researched to establish the
effects of trust on relationships in the workplace. In “Organizational Trust: Employee-Employer
Relationships,” the authors state that trust is classified into being basic, simple, blind, or
authentic (McCarthy, Starnes, and Truhon 3). Basic trust is simply the ability to meet new
people, simple trust is trusting someone simply because nothing has arose to cause mistrust, and
blind trust is trusting while denying that anything can change that trust (McCarthy, Starnes, and
Truhon 3). Finally, authentic trust is consciously trusting while still being aware of the risks of
the trust being betrayed but feeling able to confront the mistrust once it arises (McCarthy,
Starnes, and Truhon 3). Authentic trust takes much more time and work to achieve, but it is the

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only trust that leads to productive relationships within an organization (McCarthy, Starnes, and
Truhon 3). Trust can also be categorized by who the trust is between; researchers mostly focus
on relationships between workers and their immediate supervisors, and other researchers focus
on the relationships between workers and those running the organization (McCarthy, Starnes,
and Truhon 2).
As stated in “Trust in Coworkers and Trust in Organizations,” there is a growing concern
about distrust in the workplace because of the many disruptions it causes in the organization
(Tan and Lim 45). Betrayal of trust is defined by Jones and Burdette as “the violation of the trust
expectations on which relationships are based” (Elangovan and Shapiro 547). Betrayal of trust is
a problem in organizations today because this trust is what allows the culture within an
organization to prevent other problematic relationships such as bullying and ostracism.
McCarthy, Starnes, and Truhon go on further to explain that there are disappointments of trust
and breaches of trust (7). Disappointments in trust are not quite as serious as breaches of trust
because disappointments are unintentional accidents while breaches include things such as
fraudulent acts, lies, and insincerity; which workers would consider to be a betrayal of trust.
Personally I’ve experienced how distrust can change an organization’s culture. My
position at Bed Bath and Beyond as the Customer Service Trainer has required me to travel to
other stores which has allowed me to observe the cultures within those individual stores. One
store in particular has a store manager whom most of the associates do not trust. This mistrust
causes the associates to feel less motivated to do the tasks that she assigns and the overall
communication in the store is, to say the least, lacking. This would be an example of mistrust
between coworkers and their immediate supervisor although this mistrust could also lead to a
greater mistrust for the entire company. Another example of this would be the mistrust that is

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often seen between a store and its respective district managers. I have also experienced this in
my workplace and know that this is just as harmful to organizational culture. Since the district
managers are responsible for updating regulations, creating new rules, and taking care of any
other store issues, if the associates don’t feel that their district manager cares about their feelings
and well-being while making these decisions, then they are not likely to trust that manager.
Solution
In “Organizational Trust: Employee-Employer Relationships,” McCarthy created a
Model of Organizational Trust which contains a collection of interdependent components that act
together towards a common goal (McCarthy, Starnes, and Truhon 9). This model operates within
a larger organizational environment and contains a reciprocal relationship between leadership
trust and employee trust (McCarthy, Starnes, and Truhon 9). This article also contains a list to
help lead a culture of organizational trust. This list consists of:
 Practice humane leadership. Ensure employees know you are aware of, sensitive to, and
understanding of their individual feelings, thoughts, and experiences. Assure them
promises will be kept, confidences maintained, and sensitive information handled
judiciously.
 Be a paragon of trustworthiness. Be honest by saying what will be done, act with
integrity by doing what was said will be done, and be credible by following through with
commitments.
 Be willing to acknowledge, accept responsibility for, and repair perceived breaches or
betrayals of trust with employees.

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 Develop, communicate, and apply organizational vision, mission, and values statements
to ensure compatible beliefs and a shared focus on the work at hand. Incorporate trust
objectives into the organizational strategic plan.
 Determine if organizational policies, procedures, and rules are applied consistently and
equitably, and send the message that employees can be trusted. For example, Dr. W.
Edwards Deming suggested that organizational forms requiring hierarchies of signatures
are a signal of distrust.
 Unclog organizational communication channels by implementing open-door and open-
book policies and establishing user-friendly networks. Share the results of organizational
assessments of work with employees to build a culture of openness.
 Demonstrate faith in employees by reducing supervision and monitoring of employees
while they are working and by implementing organizational structures that encourage
delegation of authority, responsibility, and teamwork.
 Sponsor employee workshops on organizational trust. Workshops can help employees
understand the different types of trust, learn how to build authentic trusting relationships,
identify perceptions of broken trust, and learn how to take corrective actions.
 Develop an organizational “collective identity” by having employees work together in the
same or co-located buildings.
 When problems are investigated, attempt to determine what went wrong and why rather
than who was responsible (McCarthy, Starnes, and Truhon 11-12).
I believe that if supervisors follow this list of guidelines, then creating and keeping trust within
an organization should not be difficult and authentic trust can be achieved and maintained.

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Conclusion
As seen by the rise in concern about organizational trust and betrayal of trust within
organizations, it’s clear that trust is one of the most important parts of communication within an
organization. Knowing that trust within an organization can increase both employee views on the
organization and job satisfaction; and recognizing that an organization without trust will see
declines in productivity and efficiency, it should be on every organization leader’s agenda to
maintain a trusting environment for their employees to work in.

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Works cited
Davenport Sypher, Beverly, and Matthew J. Gill. “The Relative Predictability of Incivility on
Interpersonal and Organizational Trust.” Problematic Relationships in the Workplace.
Ed. Becky Omdahl and Janie Harden Fritz. New York: 2012. 85-104. Print.
Elangovan, A. R., and Debra L. Shapiro. “Betrayal of Trust in Organizations.” Academy of
Management Review 23.3 (1998): 547-566. ProQuest. Web.
Starnes, Becky J., Stephen A.Truhon, and Vikkie McCarthy. “Organizational Trust: Employee-
Employer Relationships.” ASQ. Web.
Tan, Hwee Hoon, and Augustine K. H. Lim. “Trust in Coworkers and Trust in Organizations.”
The Journal of Psychology 143.1 (2009):45-66. ProQuest. Web.