Developing high trust work relationships
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# 1 The concept of trust

In this section, you will be introduced to the concept of trust in organisations.

## Activity 1 Introduction to trust

Allow 5 minutes for this activity

Start by watching the video featuring Dr Graham Dietz, one of the leading academics in the research on trust. Graham gives an overview of the multitude of ways that trust is important in organisations. As you watch the video note down your own thoughts about what ‘trust’ within the organisational setting means for you. Consider how something so individual can be meaningful for organisations.

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Transcript

## Discussion

The interest in the concept of trust within organisations has not occurred in a vacuum. A number of specific contextual factors have led to the almost ‘holy grail’ status of the concept and in turn each of the contextual factors changed organisational dynamics, which have served to further highlight the importance of organisational trust.

Underpinning the value of trust is the importance of effective cooperation in organisational life. In the simplest of terms, trust is key because it enables cooperation (Tyler, 2003). While cooperation has always been important in organisations, emerging trends in organisational dynamics have pushed this to the foreground. Changes in the nature of work have made ‘old’ styles of securing cooperation more difficult to maintain. Additionally, the nature of cooperation has changed; there is now a greater emphasis on more ‘voluntary forms of cooperation’, which can be more difficult to achieve (Tyler, 2003, p. 557). Old-style ‘command and control’ strategies for securing motivation are no longer considered sufficient against the backdrop of organisational changes.

Processes of globalisation, flexibilisation of labour relations, continuous change and the virtualisation of organisational forms mean that the relations between people have become looser and behaviours are less easy to monitor. Within firms, hierarchical relationships are being replaced by lateral relationships (e.g. matrix structures and teamwork), further emphasising a growing need for the voluntary cooperation and ‘extra-role behaviours’ (Bijlsma and Koopman, 2003, p. 543) associated with trustful relations.

The dynamics of contemporary organisational trends and the resultant implications for trust are the focus of exploration throughout this course.

By the end of this course, we want you to be able to fully answer the following questions: ‘What do we mean when we talk about “trust” within organisations’?; ‘Why is trust important in organisations?’ and ‘What are the consequences of trust in organisations?’, moreover, ‘What are some of the likely consequences of a lack of trust within organisations?’.

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