Determining the effects of employee trust on organizational commitment

Abstract

An employee's trust in their leadership is an important antecedent to organizational commitment. It is commonly believed that committed employees will work harder to achieve organizational objectives, so organizations often try to foster commitment in their employees to achieve improved organizational performance. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the relationship between trust and organizational commitment. The population consisted of 31 employees from 3 high-technology organizations in the United States. The study consisted of 2 research instruments and 5 demographic questions that were administered to employees of 3 high-technology organizations. The survey instrument used to measure trust was Cummings and Brimley's Organizational Trust Inventory. This instrument separates trust into the 3 dimensions of keeping commitments, negotiating honestly, and not taking advantage. The survey instrument used to measure organizational commitment was Meyer and Allen's Three Component Model. This second instrument separates organizational commitment into the 3 dimensions of affective commitment, normative commitment, and continuance commitment. The study revealed a strong positive correlation (r =.38) between an employees' total trust and their total organizational commitment. The study revealed that 12 of the 16 possible correlations between trust and organizational commitment were positively correlated. The study findings indicate that leadership skills are critical to increasing trust levels that enable organizational commitment. By improving the leadership and organizational antecedents that promote a trustworthy environment, employees become more committed and organizational performance improves.