High Levels of Trust between Workers and Management - Essay Example

Do high levels of trust between workers and management lead to better performance? Discuss with reference to key academic studies in this area The essay aims to reinstate the fact that high levels of employer employee trust leads to better performance in organisations. This is evident from various cases in manufacturing industries, health care organisations and even in the management of workers in farms. Various factors contribute for the transformation of trust into better performance at work place. Firstly, the case of local governments can be evaluated to understand the challenges faced by them to improve the quality of service. Local government in the United States have adopted two management methods to promote better performance of employees in the public sector. The two methods chosen are high road and low road methods. The high road method implements strategies through innovative management techniques to enhance internal productivity of employees while the low road gives importance to downsizing and contracting out. These methods have been formulated in the wake of privatisation which gives less emphasis to widely accepted public values like responsiveness to changing requirements of citizens and the need to maintain high standard of productivity among workforce. Privatization has led to poor productivity and performance and the local government aim to contract back to mitigate the bids of companies that exhibit dissatisfied results. The contacting back of privatized companies to the public sector has shown improvement and better performance because these companies were handled with innovative methods of labor management cooperation. In addition to the new management method, better performance of employees was availed by the public sector at comparatively low cost. Thus, the adoption of the high road strategy has resulted in better cooperation and performance because the workers were given the opportunity to work under lesser risk and greater social rewards. Internal management reform is of significance where the trust of the employees can be won to increase their performance. The adoption of high road strategy results in the production of better quality products and better service which is essential for any organisation to stay ahead in a competitive marketplace. The trust of employees can be enhanced by providing the required training which will transform them into a highly committed workforce. Better performance of the organisation will lead to higher wages for workers, cooperative worker-employer relations and an innovative and productive working environment. The high road method attract high quality workers due to better wages and good employment policies which is most essential for any organisation to be successful (Ballard & Warner 2000). The nature of trust at work can be evaluated from a theoretical and empirical perspective. A theoretical approach can be made by defining a structure that will create trust in employees and this can be tested against existing policies of the organisation using the Smallest Space Analysis method by collecting information from a sample workmen. The theory derived at can be tested through a questionnaire and the result can be verified to check the levels of trust and its validity. The concept and level of trust towards employers vary from person to person depending on the job profile of the individual and the management approach of the manager (Clark & Payne 1997) The productivity of a workforce can be improved through various management techniques like human relations, scientific management and quality of work life. These three techniques are inter-related. The adoption of one method leads to the other. Various researches shows that the present work system in organisations were evolved from several systems that prevailed earlier in other organisations. Management analysts have concluded that there is an existing social science tradition that correlated behavioural and motivational methods that lead to high performance. The basic strategies of high performance firms are employee involvement in decision making, building trust, employee development activities and consistent, continuous and clear communication that reassure self-esteem and dignity of the employee. Upliftment of the employees definitely leads to a competitive edge for the organisation. Primitive work conditions in mass production industries were employer centred. The adoption of scientific management has evolved when organisations were required to find a place for themselves with better quality of products which could be contributed only from skilled workers (Wiley, 1996). There are various methods with which performance of workers can be enhanced. The supervision of a management may sometimes lead to intriguing experience for the worker. Bureaucratic culture is a better accepted method of supervision when compared to supportive culture. In this method there is more involvement of employees in the managerial decision making process and the performance is evaluated on a restricted basis. This changes the attitude of the employee towards supervision (Alder, 2001). Consequently, employer’s adverse comments and actions that sound distrust can negatively influence the performance of employees. In the 1980s and 1990’s the performance of health care professionals was monitored in order to control and command their services with respect to health outcomes. Mortality and health outcomes were published to keep a check on performances. Though there were warning from various human resource analysts about the impact, usefulness and meaningfulness, the publication of data continued. It has to be evaluated whether the publication is a remedy or whether it worsens the problem. It was finally concluded that the publication about health care mortality is counterproductive. Improvement in services cannot be forced upon employees rather it should be evolved through persuasive approach by increasing trust on their services (Davies & Lampel 1998). A study named Right Management shows that workplace trust was considered to be lowest in the 1990’s and this situation has improved in the recent past. The study was conducted among employees of ten organisations and seven of them consent that trust on management has improved and the rest of them say that trust on management has deteriorated. The survey also included comment from employees who feel organisations are not bothered about the level of employee trust at workplace. The chief executive officer of Right Management however opined that trust motivates employees to perform with their fullest potential and increases employee loyalty and retention. Trust in workplace is mainly with respect to frontline employees and supervisors and bad relationship of trust occurs between frontline employees and the top level management. There is better trust between supervisors and employees because they interact with each other every day. This is unlike top level management who do not interact with the low level employees leading to employee disagreement on policies and disengagement. Hence it should be the endeavour of top level managers and executive to build and increase trust by giving respect to employees and by treating them as partners to the cause with honesty and integrity. In contrast, if employers are vague in their communication or if they give misinformation with inconsistency, employees will lose their trust on the management and the probability of poor performance increases (Right Management: Workers trusting more. 2006). Though incentives and salaries are significant for the performance of workers, research shows that motivation is crucial for employees to improve their performance. Motivation implies that the management has trust on the abilities of the worker. Therefore, in addition to rewards, employees feel motivated when greater responsibilities are assigned to work, by holding workers accountable and by increasing mechanisms for recognition. This type of motivation will finally result in the improvement of quality of work. Attitudinal recognition has equal importance as recognition through rewards. Trust building process becomes simple when the management shares problems and challenges with employees to arrive at a good decision or solution. A productive workforce is ensured if trust building ideologies include continuous education, supervision and performance appraisal, rewards and career development (Dieleman, Toonen, Touré & Martineau 2006). High levels of trust between employees and the organization can be ascertained in the case of a Central Mexico garment factory where community of fate ideology was followed by the top level management for lean production over a period of nine months. In this case the management gave important to just in time production, high quality and flattened hierarchies. The ideology of the management disclosed the levels of loyalty, sacrifice and its strengthening welfare programs which persuaded the workers to provide their intellectual, physical and emotional labor to the company (Videla. June 2006). Employees show better performance when they know that the management is concerned about the safety of the workers through strategies that reward employees for exhibiting safe performance, investment in safety, training workers to conduct their work safely and when the management considers safety like any other process of operation (Glendon, Clarke, & McKenna, 2006, p.402). Moreover, employers and employees can obtain productive outcomes if the management instils trust even in the case of piece rate employment. Employers can avail the advantages of piece rate if they provide a fair pay to the workers and gain the work satisfaction leading to better performance (Encina, 2004). In manufacturing units, industrial relations is maintained by non contractual behaviour that require trust between employees and employer. This requires vertical trust as well as horizontal trust. Vertical trust is the trust between employees and the employer while horizontal trust is the trust among employees. Loyalty, trust and commitment from the workforce is reassured when the policy of the management is based on social integration that does not give room for any discussion against the management’s authority and power and the integration among workers fulfils the reciprocity expectations of the workers. If the reciprocity rules are not regarded, it may lead to social disintegration, poor performance, and negative attitude and reduce the motivation of workers. Social integration is vital large number of workers is involved (Buttler & Franz 1995. p. 66). In conclusion high workplace performances are obtained when the role of workers are recognised. Involving workers in the management ensures them that they know the job. When the organisation place trust on workers it is reciprocated through better performance. Recognition at work place improves performance which in turn increases productivity because workers show willingness to invest their experience and knowledge in their work. Trust based high performance workplace is better working environment where workers are motivated and thereby there is better commitment. Workers are encouraged when there is job satisfaction and they have a natural instinct to shed extra time and energy on work. Workers ensure better use of expertise and skill and retain in an organisation when there is mutual trust in the organisation (Mallard. 2008). Reference Alder, G.A. September 2001.Employee reactions to electronic performance monitoring: A consequence of organizational culture. The Journal of High Technology Management Research. Volume 12, Issue 2. Pages 323-342. Available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W56-4471PJC-8&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=d9241dba2e20d65d964ed4046c6d3212 Ballard, M.J. & Warner, M.E. April 2000. Taking the High Road: Local Government Restructuring and the Quest for Quality Available: http://www.afscme.org/issues/1513.cfm. Accessed on September 20, 2008 Buttler,F. & Franz, W. 1995. Institutional Frameworks and Labor Market Performance: Comparative Views on the U.S. and German Economies. Routledge: New York. Clark, M.C & Payne, R.L. 1997 The Nature and Structure of Workers Trust in Management. Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 18, No. 3 pp. 205-224. Available: http://www.jstor.org/pss/3100141 Accessed on September 20, 2008 Davies, HT & Lampel, J. 1998. Trust in performance indicators? Quality in Health Care, Vol 7, 159-162. Available: http://qshc.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/7/3/159 Accessed on September 20, 2008 Dieleman, M., Toonen, J., Touré, H. & Martineau, T. 2006.v The match between motivation and performance management of health sector workers in Mali. Human Resources Health Vol:4, p.2. Available: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1402315 Accessed on September 20, 2008 Encina, G.B. November 15, 2004. Employment Practices that Combat Exploitation of Migrants. Available: http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article22.htm Accessed on September 20, 2008 Glendon, A.I., Clarke, S., & McKenna, E.F. 2006. Human Safety and Risk Management. Florida: CRC Press Right Management: Workers trusting more. September 29, 2006. South Florida Business Journal. Available http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2006/09/25/daily44.html . Accessed on September 20, 2008 Mallard, T. June 25, 2008. Worker – Employer Collaboration To Lift Productivity. Available: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/worker+%E2%80%93+employer+collaboration+lift+productivity Accessed On September 20, 2008 Videla, N.P. June 2006. It Cuts Both Ways: Workers, Management and the Construction of a "Community of Fate" on the Shop Floor in a Mexican Garment Factor. Social Forces – Volume 84, Number 4, pp. 2099-2120. Available: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/social_forces/v084/84.4videla.html. Accessed on September 20, 2008 Wiley, C. March 1996. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal Volume 9, Number 1 , p.87-89. Available: http://www.springerlink.com/content/6147236862r4n174/. Accessed on September 20, 2008 Read More